Premiership Rugby 2018/19 Round 1

[Every Time Ref]

What Goneva did was brilliant. Quick thinking and initiative should be encouraged.

The ref made a mistake blowing for the 22, end of. Players then stopped so the try may not have been scored, but play should have continued. Very tough one for the ref but an object lesson to players and refs alike in playing what happens, not what usually happens or what might happen.

If play had continued and Falcons scored, could the ref have checked with the TMO?

Deception is a key part in many sports. There's a line between that and cheating and Goneva stayed on the right side of it.

So if this becomes commonplace, you'd OK with it?

It seems to me we'd just end up with a mess, no one sure who's grounded it when, when the ball is live and when it isn't. Are TMOs going to need to check every single grounding every time?

If a player is poleaxed from behind (with a legal tackle) while standing still with the ball, because the tackler thought he might have faked the grounding and be about to run, what should the ref do?

 

[Reiser99]

Some may say quit.

It was a quit or we'll fire you scenario I imagine. Leave by mutual consent is less embarrassing for all parties and has less fallout.

 

[Reiser99]

So if this becomes commonplace, you'd OK with it?

It seems to me we'd just end up with a mess, no one sure who's grounded it when, when the ball is live and when it isn't. Are TMOs going to need to check every single grounding every time?

If a player is poleaxed from behind (with a legal tackle) while standing still with the ball, because the tackler thought he might have faked the grounding and be about to run, what should the ref do?

TBH it is almost never going to work, because honestly I think if the players had thought Goneva was in play he would have been tackled. Some players start to move towards him and then stopped. If players were aware it could happen I think most players would be tackled, though obviously making ground.

Having read the discussion on here I've changed my mind and I agree it wasn't a try. If Tempest had blown after Goneva had dotted then ball down then maybe, but people are right that the ball is dead before he scores and so it is a 22 drop out. As I said though, I'm fine with players doing it, but I am struggling to see how you can avoid the opposition seeing, whilst also getting the ref to see in real time, because I don't think they will waste time asking the TMO to check if it was grounded.

At this stage for me it was a bit of excitement and a little parlour trick, but I doubt we will see anything similar again soon.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

So if this becomes commonplace, you'd OK with it?

It seems to me we'd just end up with a mess, no one sure who's grounded it when, when the ball is live and when it isn't. Are TMOs going to need to check every single grounding every time?

If a player is poleaxed from behind (with a legal tackle) while standing still with the ball, because the tackler thought he might have faked the grounding and be about to run, what should the ref do?

Yeah, but it won't become commonplace. A player would only do it if they thought they could launch an attack that could get well into the opposition half. That'll be exceptionally rare and coaches just won't encourage it because of the risk reward trade off.

I think we should just salute a piece of ingenuity that's likely to be a one off.

 

[RedruthRFC]

The referee made a mistake and then covered his back with the "spirit of the game" excuse.

This. This is only a thing because Tempest shat the bed. Had he said "sorry, I thought it was grounded" all would have been well in the world. As it was, he made it up as he went along and looked foolish because if that was the case, it should have been a 5m penalty to Sarries.

 

[Scotty]

All this goneva stuff is stupid, regardless of wether they have seen the ball touched down he has to run from his 22, if a player runs ball in hand from his 22 then tackle him just incase dont just stand there.

If he had run to his 22 tapped it and gone or just run how does it make him harder to tackle, all that needs to happen is players are reminded you always play to the whistle regardless of if you think its foul play or not.

 

[Which Tyler]

all that needs to happen is players are reminded you always play to the whistle regardless of if you think its foul play or not.

Goneva is the only player who didn't play the whistle. I'm still unclear if Tempest was meaning the dummy or the refusal to play the whistle that was against the spirit of the game.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

All this goneva stuff is stupid, regardless of wether they have seen the ball touched down he has to run from his 22, if a player runs ball in hand from his 22 then tackle him just incase dont just stand there.

If he had run to his 22 tapped it and gone or just run how does it make him harder to tackle, all that needs to happen is players are reminded you always play to the whistle regardless of if you think its foul play or not.

I'm pretty sure the sarries players stopped because the ref called a 22.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

All this goneva stuff is stupid, regardless of wether they have seen the ball touched down he has to run from his 22, if a player runs ball in hand from his 22 then tackle him just incase dont just stand there.

If he had run to his 22 tapped it and gone or just run how does it make him harder to tackle, all that needs to happen is players are reminded you always play to the whistle regardless of if you think its foul play or not.

Exactly. Until the ref determines otherwise the ball is in play.