21 May 2019

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Duty Ref 553: Marius van der Westhuizen

Marius van der Westhuizen is a top referee and a shock omission from the World Cup's list of referees - not the only one, but certainly one. But he carries on refereeing Super Rugby and is kind enough to answer readers' questions.

Marius is just back from a camp held for South Africa's top referees in Bloemfontein. Things like this happen from time to time to keep referees' skill levels up for what can be the most difficult job on a rugby field

1. Name: Shane Rademeyer

Question: May a No.8. move to centre if the subs come onto the field

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Shane,

Yes, the no.8 is allowed to play in a different position once the replacements come onto the field. Let's say the replacement no.8 replaces a centre and the starting no.8 goes and plays centre. Nothing wrong with that.

Regards
Marius

2. Two people have asked the same question in the same way.

i Name: Werner Wilbers

Question: An in-goal player catches the ball from an opponent's kick and touches it down. That player is then late tackled. What actions are available to the referee? a) Penalty kick anywhere on the 22m line; b) Penalty kick on the 5m line; c) A drop-out; d) Penalty kick at the middle of the 22m line; e) Player temporary suspension; f) Player send-off

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Werner,

The correct answer would be option a).

It would be for a penalty kick where the game would have restarted. In this case it would be with a 22m dropout. The team that did not infringe can decide where on the 22m they want the penalty kick. The referee can also issue a Yellow or Red card if the offence meets that threshold.

Regards
Marius

ii Name: Pieter van Zyl

Question: An in-goal player catches the ball from an opponent's kick and touches it down. That player is then late tackled. What actions are available to the referee? a) Penalty kick anywhere on the 22m line; b) Penalty kick on the 5m line; c) A drop-out; d) Penalty kick at the centre of the 22m line' e) Player temporary suspension' f) Player send-off

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Pieter, It seems that you and Werner experienced the same incident.

The correct answer would be option a)

It would be for a penalty kick where the game would have restarted. In this case it would be with a 22m dropout. The team that did not infringe can decide where on the 22m they want the penalty kick. The referee can also issue a Yellow or Red card if the offence meets that threshold.

Regards
Marius

3 Name: Gordon Haas

Question: Re: charge down into in-goal (Duty Ref 512) - not a question but something that has always bothered me: about the Laws - in the described scenario the team charging down is being punished for good play. Comments please.

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Gordon,

I have gone back to duty ref 512 (It’s a while back) but unfortunately I cannot find that question. If you can ask it again we can look at it.

Regards
Marius

4. Name: Morné Arnolds

Question: If it was a penalty kick and the ball is not kicked out and team b catch the ball in the 22 is the player allowed to call a mark

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Morné

Yes a mark can indeed be taken from a penalty kick. The only time one would not be allowed to call is a mark is from kick-off or a restart kick after a score.

Regards
Marius

Name: Victor Erasmus

Question: What action should be taken if a rugby game is played at school level Under-11 and Under-13 and there is no trauma board and neck brace available next to the field of play. BokSmart provides coaches, referees, players and administrators with the knowledge, skills and leadership abilities to ensure that safety and the best practice principles are incorporated into all aspects of contact rugby. Why do referees and coaches ignore this and who is going to prevent this before we have a serious injury?this school game took place in Richards Bay.

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Victor,

Player safety is the top priority for a referee as well as the coaches of that specific team. It is very disappointing to take note that the minimum requirement was not met at this primary school game.

When something like this is picked up, it is paramount that the game is stopped and the incident should immediately be reported to local union. This can still be reported at this stage to ensure that this does not happen again.

Regards
Marius

5. Name: Bunny Bolton

Question: Is it now fashionable for refs to be sloppy? I'm not just talking about the unshaven look but carelessness about things like where a try is scored, where the conversion is taken, throwing into a scrum and a lineout, being behind kick-offs and penalties, where free kicks are taken, who uses hands at a ruck and where pillars stand at rucks.

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Bunny,

No, this should not be the standard and I am sorry you feel this is the case. If you can provide us with some examples we can assess that and deal with the individuals if they are not up to scratch.

Regards
Marius

6. Name: Ryno van Aswegen:

Question: Please, explain to me how these situations can make a tackle:

i. A player of Red team is grabbed by a player of Blue team. They both stay on their feet. Blue player is doing his best to keep Red on his feet while Red does his best to get a knee on the ground. If Red gets his knee on the ground, the referee calls Tackle - Release. But Red was not brought to ground; he fought to get to ground.

ii. A player of Red team is grabbed by a player of Blue team. They both stay on their feet. Another Red player binds onto the first Red player who fights to get a knee onto the ground. He does so and the referee calls Tackle - Release.

How is this a correct application of Law.

Marius van der Westhuizen: Hi Ryno,

You make a valid point, It is something that stems from the Sevens game and was brought in to make it easier to officiate the tackle area. I would say it is better to have a consistent application that teams understand. We do give them a couple of seconds to adjust when that player's knee has hit the ground if there is uncertainty. All the top coaches asked that we should just apply this consistently. Teams these days adapt so well and it makes our job slightly easier.

Kind regards
Marius