Tackle Height (preliminary stuff)

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As you have heard, we will be using a new tackle height law in the Fall (eff. 9/1/2024). The Midwest is trialing this for Spring friendlies; USAR will use what they find to shape the interpretation, but it shouldn’t be much different than what Ireland and New Zealand are doing.

The following YouTube video from Jamie McGregor at USAR is around 35 minutes and has a discussion regarding player coaching and referee aspects. Note that this is for open play and not necessarily applicable to things like pick and drives (with the difference being the velocity of players in contact, as they discuss). Also, note the discussion about the “standing tackle” that some players do which is now going to be a problem. [And, of course, this is not a definitive video because the trials are going on, but the general concepts will be similar if not the same. We will get other stuff by August.]

Law Guidance

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From World Rugby

World Rugby … has put out a statement for the Reinforcement of Current Law (March 2024). The Referee and Laws Committee Management Working Group wanted to ensure coaches and officials were aware of the below laws that are now in immediate effect:

Law 15.17: Players will be expected to use the ball more quickly when the ball has been secured at a ruck/breakdown. Referees will be asked to call “use it” earlier, which will begin the five second count to play the ball away. This is expected to reduce lengthy “caterpillar rucks”.

Law 19.10: Hookers will be expected to maintain a full brake foot to aid scrum stability and safety during the engagement sequence. Any adjustment must maintain the act of the brake.

Law 6.29: Strict reinforcement of the 2022 law trial relating to water carriers entering the field of play for elite play. Higher level competitions in the USA are encouraged to require all of the Global Law Trials in Law 6 for water carriers to be applied.

From USAR – TACKLE HEIGHT UPDATE

USA Rugby have received queries about implementation of tackle height variations in the USA and is monitoring practices from other nations to ensure the smoothest possible implementation for when the USA chooses to apply these.

No trials of these variations currently exist anywhere in the USA. Details of any upcoming trials will be announced by the USA Rugby Board in due course. Until notified by USA Rugby, the existing Laws apply. All referees are instructed that safety in our game is paramount and all dangerous tackling must be sanctioned.

For any immediate questions, please email laws@usa.rugby

Upcoming Level 1 Ref Clinics

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Folks have asked for multiple opportunities for a refereeing course…and right now you’ve got a bunch of choices during the off-season. Here are three upcoming USAR Level 100 Referee Courses (times are what are posted). Pick one:

December 10, 8:30-5:00 – College Park, MD (University of Maryland)
January 13, 9:00-4:00 – Glen Allen, VA (Deep Run HS)
January 20, 8:30-5:00 – Virginia Beach, VA (Va Beach Sportsplex)

Cost for the one-day course? $85

How do I sign-up?

  1. Go to your Rugby XplorerAccount at https://myaccount.rugbyxplorer.com.au/.
  2. Go to Learning Center.
  3. Go to Course Catalog.
  4. Click on “Level 1 Referee Course”.
  5. Find the course you want and click on it.
  6. “Add to Cart” to sign up for the course.
  7. Complete checkout.

    Please register right away.

Various things from the Fall 2023 Season

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  1. Goggles. We’ve had a matches this season that had a player with goggles. In both cases, the player and coach) said they had been using them all season. NO. Law 4.3.i permits goggles BUT they must be in compliance with Law 4.1: “All items of clothing must comply with World Rugby Regulation 12.” In Reg 12:”A player may wear goggles which comply with the requirements set out in the World Rugby Goggles Performance Specification… ” And under the above-mentioned specs: “All goggles meeting the requirements of the specification will be permitted to display the World Rugby Approved logo and only products displaying this logo will be permitted for use for contact Rugby games in all jurisdictions.” IF NO WR (or iRB) imprint, they have to come off. Please don’t be “last week’s ref”.
  2. Lightning. Matches must be suspended in the event of lightning. Any event that is delayed due to lightning or a thunderstorm may resume 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder is heard.
  3. Goal posts – Always need padding.
  4. Remember that there is no HIA in club or college or any community rugby. There never has been and there still isn’t.
  5. We have had a few questions about the 12-replacement policy. This only applies to Capital senior clubs and not colleges (in all of their various conferences). It’s not hard to administer. I did it on Saturday via simple tic marks (with a separate FR annotation to keep track of those). No problem!
  6. While not required, it might be good if you said a sentence or two in your RefUp report. Some of us read these and it gives a tone of how the game went (which can be helpful for assignments or knowing about club/college trouble spots.

Registration(s) and GMG (2023-2024)

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Rugby Xplorer (RX) is now open for 2023-2024 USAR registrations https://myaccount.rugbyxplorer.com.au/.

Registration is also open for NCR (free): https://www.ncr.rugby/referee-registration

Game Management Guidelines (GMG) for 2023-24 are now available on the USAR page at https://usa.rugby/referee-resources. USAR has a one-hour video session about the GMG; find it here:

usa.rugby
=> Log in (upper right corner)
=> Learning Center (on the left)
=> Course Catalog (tab in the middle)
Then scroll down to Referee Development Webinars
=> Game Management Guidelines 2023-24
=> ENROLL
WATCH THE VIDEO!!!