REFEREE HQ – As we’ve discussed before, there are new laws on trial. Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of trying them out for the first time at the Stuart Daily 10s, hosted by the Wisconsin Rugby Club. It was interesting to get to use these new law amendments and also to see how they impacted the flow of the game. Throughout my games, I saw almost all of the trials be put to use. It was great to see the added speed and continuity. I especially enjoyed seeing the players adapt to the game.
Within my first game, we had a knock-on go into touch and it was taken as a quick throw-in. It was a great example of the new potential for speeding things up. Instead of having the game stop for the scrum, we didn’t even have to do anything for the game to continue. For me, it was a welcomed addition.
The biggest change of the day came with the scrum engagement sequence. Coming into the event I had my doubts about weather this would be a good thing or if it would just be an unnecessary change that brought about little change. The first time I used it, the only thing going through my head was get it right… 3 words, not 4! I found that the three words had the teams set quicker, allowed for a shorter engagement sequence, and also allowed for the timing of the hit to be more synced. I did not see any teams hit at two different times, like I had with en-gage. The single syllable allowed for both teams to time it out well and hit at the same simultaneously.
Take a look at what Saracens forwards coach Alex Sanderson had to say by clicking THIS.
All in all, I do have to say the LATs have increased the fluid movement of the game but wonder how those of you that play feel about playing under them?
