Keeping Things Calm Avoiding brawls on a rugby pitch By Adam Powell January 11th, 2012
Adam writes:
Perhaps more than officials in any other sport, rugby referees must make it their responsibility to maintain order. That's especially true on the pitch. Rugby is a violent sport at times, and tempers flare on a frequent basis. Being the only arbiter on the field, the rugby referee must be in complete command of the action. If not, he'll be in for a long day.
In Parts I and II of this series, I laid out a basic foundation for handling marginal infractions and penalties that may, depending on the circumstances, merit time in the Sin Bin.
In this final installment, I'll discuss the infractions that typically deserve some minutes off the pitch. When players display malice or ungentlemanly conduct during a game, an official has the authority – and the responsibility – to make sure the player is informed about the mistake he made and punished in a responsible fashion, all that in the hope of deterring similar actions in the future.
In Part I of my series "Use the Sin Bin," I gave a basic overview of rugby's answer to the penalty box. In addition to explaining the purpose and enforcement of the Sin Bin, I provided an assessment of how to handle one of the trickiest infractions in the game, obstruction. There are several other penalties that may merit the Sin Bin and understanding those can only make you a better rugby referee in the long run.
If you tend to be a "cut and dried" rugby referee, seeing everything in black and white, then the concept of the Sin Bin is probably not always the easiest thing for you to enforce! While many infractions certainly merit some time in the Bin, others are not so offensive.
The use and appropriate enforcement of the Sin Bin is ultimately up to the individual official, but by following some basic guidelines — in addition to learning how to prioritize infractions — the official will find the task can become second nature over time.
Kicking is one of the most important core components of any rugby match, and all officials must know how and when to enforce kicking infractions. Smart teams will use kicking penalties to put themselves in position to win, and they cannot do that unless the official is on top of his game.
