When is a forward pass not a forward pass in this convoluted day and age?
An incident in a Super Rugby game in May saw more trouble for the lawmakers of rugby.
South African TMO Marius Jonker rubbed out a try by Sevu Reece in the Crusaders-Stormers clash in Cape Town as he adjudged a forward pass by Braydon Ennor. The game was drawn 19-all and the Crusaders felt aggrieved they were robbed of victory by an incorrect TMO call.
This is how Law 12 defines a forward pass: ‘A throw forward occurs when a player throws or passes the ball forward, i.e, if the arms of the player passing the ball move towards the opposing team’s dead ball line.’
So, on this definition, enshrined in World Rugby’s Laws, Jonker got it wrong, as Ennor hands were clearly showing he was passing the ball backwards. Sanzaar rebuked Jonker. He appeared to have a premeditated idea of a forward pass before he had even seen a replay.
But, hold on. While Jonker did not rule according to the current law, I would argue the current law is an ass. It is based around a nebulous scientific concept of ‘relative velocity’ that means that even if the ball travels forward, you should rule on where the passer’s hands are pointing.
This anomaly first came to light in a 2013 Super Rugby match between the Rebels and Chiefs in Melbourne where Scott Higginbotham scored a try from a pass which clearly went forward at least two metres.
Then Chiefs coach Dave Rennie, rightly, came off the front foot: “If that’s not a forward pass then we’ll start getting guys 10m down the track and we’ll start throwing it to them. That’s just ludicrous.
“In the end they’re going to open up a can of worms if they think they can fob that decision off with the fact that the hands are facing this way and the ball has drifted forward because there’s going to be massive questions every game due to that. I guess they’re in charge, aren’t they, but gee, our game’s in a hell of a state if they start saying those sorts of decisions are acceptable. He’s thrown a pass and it’s gone four metres forward. I just think it’s a forward pass.”
Rennie’s outburst was shot down by Sanzaar referees manager Lyndon Bray, who said the ruling was technically correct. We have seen many, many tries scored in rugby since then from what were clearly forward passes, but legal under the current definition.
So Jonker got it right, but he got it wrong.
Hopefully this will not create a storm of controversy at Rugby World Cup time. The most famous forward pass that wasn’t called came in the infamous 2007 RWC quarter-final when Yannick Jauzion fed Frederic Michalak with a short ball that went half a metre forward. That particular pass was illegal under any definition but was simply missed by a certain Wayne Barnes.
So, as it stands, we have to put up with a ridiculous ruling that means a player can lob a pass with his hands pointing backwards, it can drift eight metres forward, be claimed by the recipient, and the call is ‘play on.’
Leave the scientists to save the planet and leave rugby to people who know what they are doing. A forward pass should always be called if the recipient takes the ball in front of where the passer delivered it. Is that not simple?
Maybe Jonker was just harking back to a simpler age with his call.