Wp vs Sharks The Ref

[LancelotSA]

I think we may also have got used to the Super 14 where free kicks were given instead of penalties. Penalties slow the game down considerably and may create the perception that the ref was killing the game with his whistle.

we were supposed to be under all the ELV's from last nights game ............... so all those penalties were wrong then no?

Out of interest, and apologies it took a while to find it in writing, this appeared in the paper today....

This week the Sharks have been hard at work adjusting to the new set of experimental law variations that seem to have snuck under the radar into the Currie Cup, leaving many fans confused and frustrated.

The International Rugby Board evaluates its ELVs after every competition, doing away with some, changing others, but did not make much fanfare about the return to full penalties as opposed to free kicks for infringements at rucks, and last weekend most folk did not know about the new lineout laws.

"The game has slowed right down again," says Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford. "When the players came in for half-time (against Western Province), they could not believe how fresh they felt compared to the Super 14 games."

That is not surprising given that they had spent much of the half waiting for Willem de Waal to kick for goal, or walking to lineouts now that there is so much more kicking (because of the increase in penalties).

So it seems you are correct in that we are playing under ELVs in the Currie Cup but I am correct in my assertion that instead of free kicks we now get penalties for infringements. As if to confirm what I was stating about the ref not being too bad on the night...

"A lot of people thought that the referee (Christie du Preez) was poor, but we thought he was quite good in the application of what the IRB now want at the breakdowns," Bashford said.

...so it appears that the guilty party may in fact have been the WP players not quite adjusting to the "new" ELVs... but then again we all know they are slower down by the mountain!