Nigel Owens issues definitive verdict on ‘clever’ Springboks tactics after previous ‘problem’ with Rassie Erasmus’ innovation
Former Test referee Nigel Owens and the Springboks maul set-up against Italy.
Former elite referee Nigel Owens has explained fully whether the Springboks should have been punished for their tactical innovations in their victory over Italy.
The ex-Rugby World Cup final official took to X, formerly Twitter, at the weekend to state that their kick-off routine should have resulted in a penalty, while he was also not too impressed by their lineout-style ploy in phase play.
On World Rugby’s Whistle Watch show, Owens firstly addressed the opening to the game where Andre Esterhuizen was offside from Manie Libbok’s chip ahead.
Referee Andrew Brace awarded a scrum to Italy but the Welshman felt that it should have been a tougher sanction.
‘Not a normal action’
“The key word is ‘deliberate’, because normally in this kind of situation, if a player is in front of the kick-off, it’s deemed to be offside and a scrum back,” he said.
“The reason that is a scrum is because the kick tends to go at least 10 metres, so actually the effect of the players who may be slightly in front chasing that ball can be very, very minimal, if any effect at all.
“But then again, they are in front and for that reason it’s deemed to be an accidental offence and a scrum back.
“What we saw in this instance is it looks deliberate. It’s a ploy, it’s an action to get a scrum so in this instance, if I was refereeing this game, to me that would be a pretty straightforward, clear penalty because it’s not a normal action.”
Owens concluded that the Springboks should have been penalised for that action but admits that they could get away with it in the future providing they convince the officials that it isn’t deliberate.
“If you look at this sanction, even if you think it’s deliberate or not, it’s an offence that can quite easily be penalised because of the action itself,” he said.
“Now, if you were to do that and kick it into touch deliberately, it becomes very, very difficult for a referee to decide whether that action was deliberate.
“If the referee feels, ‘hang on, you’re not pulling a quick one with me, I’m not happy with that action, that’s against the sportsmanship of the game’, under that law it becomes a penalty.
“The referee has the avenue, even if he can’t prove it’s deliberate or not, to penalise it. But if you’re not sure, it’s accidental and you tend to opt with a scrum.”
The 54-year-old then moved onto the big innovation from that encounter where the Springboks lifted a player up in the air, like teams do at the lineout, and set up at maul.
Owens also had reservations about this action, as he explained on X.
“The problem with that play is that you are unable to tackle the player in the air or his support jumpers so you can not defend it or compete,” he wrote.
However, on Whistle Watch, the Welshman explained that it is currently legal, despite the Boks potentially gaining an “unfair advantage”, and that at the moment Rassie Erasmus’ side can continue to use it.
View on the Springboks’ lineout-like move
“A lineout can only happen when the ball goes dead and there’s a throw-in, so we don’t have a lineout here but what we have is something that’s very similar-looking to a lineout,” Owens said.
“A player being lifted up or supported in the air to catch the ball from a kick-off is perfectly legal, we see it every game and nothing wrong with it at all.
“Within the laws of the game, this is not an illegal action, so the only question to ask around this is; is it against the sportsmanship of the game? Or is it an unfair advantage?
“When that guy is in the air, the defenders cannot do anything to compete for that ball. You can’t touch the player in the air and you can’t touch or tackle or bind on to any of those players who are supporting him in the air.
“While this happens, the opposition pretty much have to wait for him to come down and then they can do something about it.”
He added: “It’s a very clever ploy, it’s a very tactical ploy. Some like it, some feel it’s not right, but it all comes down to whether you think it’s fair and if it becomes a dangerous action in the game.
“If this happens, will a player be tempted to take somebody out? And then we have a dangerous consequence to it.
“At the moment, this action is legal as long as he’s up and down immediately.”
