Refereeing and Laws
This page is principally aimed at referees. This season we have the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) which all referees should be familiar with.
Experimental Law Variations at-a-glance
- Officially appointed touch judges will now be known as assistant referees and can assist the referee in any way he requires.
- Corner posts are no longer considered to be touch in goal unless the ball is grounded against the post.
- If a ball is passed back into the 22 by a defender who then kicks directly into touch, the lineout shall be opposite where the kick was taken from. Direct means the ball does not land in the field of play prior to touching the touch line or anything on or beyond it. Should a tackle, ruck or maul take place after the ball is passed back then the restriction does not apply.
- At a quick throw the ball can be thrown backwards towards the defenders goal line.
- The receiver in a lineout must stand 2 metres from the lineout.
- The none throwing hooker must be 2 metres away from the lineout in the 5 metre channel.
- Pre gripping and lifting in the lineout is allowed. (Except at under 15 unless during a County match)
- There is no restriction on the number of players from either team in a lineout.
- The offside line for players not in the scrum and not the teams scrum half must stand 5 metres back from the scrum until the scrum is over.
- A defending team may bring a maul to the ground. To do this an opponent may be grasped between the shoulders and waist and then pulled to ground. (Not permitted at under 19)
- Officially appointed touch judges will now be known as assistant referees and can assist the referee in any way he requires.
- Corner posts are no longer considered to be touch in goal unless the ball is grounded against the post.
- If a ball is passed back into the 22 by a defender who then kicks directly into touch, the lineout shall be opposite where the kick was taken from. Direct means the ball does not land in the field of play prior to touching the touch line or anything on or beyond it. Should a tackle, ruck or maul take place after the ball is passed back then the restriction does not apply.
- At a quick throw the ball can be thrown backwards towards the defenders goal line.
- The receiver in a lineout must stand 2 metres from the lineout.
- The none throwing hooker must be 2 metres away from the lineout in the 5 metre channel.
- Pre gripping and lifting in the lineout is allowed. (Except at under 15 unless during a County match)
- There is no restriction on the number of players from either team in a lineout.
- The offside line for players not in the scrum and not the teams scrum half must stand 5 metres back from the scrum until the scrum is over.
- A defending team may bring a maul to the ground. To do this an opponent may be grasped between the shoulders and waist and then pulled to ground. (Not permitted at under 19)
This Word Document contains the same information.
This Powerpoint presentation is quite large (approx 2MB) but presents the ELVs in more detail.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Experimental Laws at a glance .doc | 19.5 KB |
| Experimental Law Variations Season 2008-09[1].ppt | 1.77 MB |