Fortnightly Bulletin Feb-24

Well its that time again for a bulletin, this year seems to be flying on as we now enter February and more importantly the start of the 6 Nations. Going into the opening weekend I’m looking at any one of 3 / 4 teams could ultimately win it – Can Ireland and France bounce back from what they will both see as under performance at the World Cup? What will this new look England team deliver and how will Scotland and Wales fare, both with a changing of the guard – some out of retirement others through injury. Either way it is set to be a cracking tournament.

Back to the matters of the Society, this week we have an update on Safeguarding from the RFU that we’ve received for onward communication, a new social media page, spot light on some law trivia for you and an update on training for the second half of the season.

Safeguarding

The RFU have published guidance with regards Safeguarding across Junior Rugby and/or any games where U-18s feature, please read the below.

“Match officials must not share cleaning or hygiene spaces (such as showers) with age grade players, regardless of sex. For the avoidance of doubt, this includes all players under 18 years of age, regardless of if they are playing in the adult or age-grade game (which includes Colts rugby).

We recognise there may be occasions when match officials attend new clubs, and therefore please can we encourage match officials to take the lead in managing the logistics associated with changing spaces and showers to ensure privacy and separation.”

If you are / have been assigned to an age grade game please check with the fixture secretary beforehand regarding the changing room situation and showers. It would be great for all match officials to have a separate changing room and shower but this is not always possible.

Any questions regards the above please drop them through to me on email and we can pick up individually.

New Social Media Channel

I have set up a new Instagram page for the Society, as I was unable to gain access to the old one. Please follow us along with sharing any photos you upload to Instagram of your games, the handle is northmidsrefereesociety.

It would be great to start a competition of the best clubs for facilities covering changing rooms, showers, hospitality etc. Simply share your pictures on our Instagram and we’ll pull through the best into the bulletin.

I will also be looking at our other social media channels with a view to lining them all up so communications are shared across all platforms over the coming weeks.

The Laws Corner

Over the next few bulletins I’m introducing ‘The Laws Corner’ which will cover some questions posed to us by our members along with other pieces of information. If you have any burning questions that you wish to clarify please send through to me, using the form at the bottom of this section.

Misconception: “I can’t be offside inside my own in-goal.”

Incorrect: Law 10.1 states “A player is offside in open play if that player is in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball or who last played it.” Therefore, whilst the opposition is in possession, a defender only has to retreat no further than his/her goal-line to be onside, when his/her own team is in possession within his/her own in-goal, then any player in front of a player who has possession, or passes or kicks the ball IS offside. So folks, EYES OPEN on goal-line dropouts or teams looking to run the ball from their own in-goal.

Three-point stance:

Answer:

If a defender opts to adopt a three-point stance, then the offside line applies to both feet and the hand that’s on the ground. Many “penalty advantage” calls in elite rugby arise from defenders adopting a three-point stance near their own goal-line where although the feet are in goal, the hand on the ground isn’t.

50:22 Question (Taken from the training meeting held at Old Halesonians, 9 January)

Answer:

Why a team receiving the ball in their own half from a kick off or restart kick by their opponents, can’t win a 50:22 from a well placed kick. Answer Law 18.8 refers.

Principle: A team cannot be adversely sanctioned when complying with an obligation so that obligation to kick off or restart with a kick tint other opponent’s half cannot allow those opponents to earn a 50:22 immediately – a phase of play (a contest for the ball) has to occur first.

Similarly, a player cannot claim a “Mark” from a kick-off or restart kick (Law 17.4 refers) as the kicking team is complying with an obligation.

Training

Our last training session was held at Old Hales on the 9 Jan and as we enter further into the second half of the season we will look to hold more both face to face and online. As always we are open to both venues and material from our members, please get in touch if there is something specific you would like to see and/or a preferred venue. With regards venues we look at choosing clubs where our members are generally based in an acceptable radius, so please bear this mind.

We are also looking at running a training session with a guest speaker, utilising Chivs’ extensive rolerdex (for the younger generation that’s what we use to keep phone numbers in before the introduction of mobiles 😉 ). Will keep you updated on this both through the bulletin and our social channels.

Hope you find the above useful and enjoy the weekend of rugby and refereeing.