Rugby’s comeback over the weekend with the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition kicking off also saw the return of something else; penalties – and lots of them.
In fact, in the two games on Saturday and Sunday there were 61 penalties in 160 minutes of play.
But NZR national referee manager Bryce Lawrence told 1 NEWS it wasn’t a bad thing.
“We had about seven offside penalties each game,” he said.
“A Super Rugby average over the last few years is two a game.”
A stricter offside ruling is something coaches have been calling for and over the weekend the referees took more advice from the assistant referees, or touch judges as they were once known.
“Every call in the weekend, about 14 offsides, was called initially by an AR,” Lawrence said.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald said their contribution was noticeable in his team’s 30-20 win over the Hurricanes.
“That's a positive, I think - there's space because the offside line's definitely a little bit further back.”
The area drawing plenty of focus from the referees was the breakdown where coaches and players said something needed to happen.
Pre-lockdown, the game was stifled at the breakdown by players holding on to the ball, defenders off their feet and no room to move out wide.
But that changed over the weekend with players consistently whistled at rucks as soon as they pulled an illegal move.
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland said it’s about going away and working on their craft to make sure they can operate in the stricter conditions.
“It's up to players and us to adapt as far as how we coach and how we execute those things.”
Referees will keep an eye on breakdowns and offsides again next weekend, and beyond that under the World Rugby edict, Lawrence said.
“The coaches I spoke to, they know it's a work in progress,” he said.
“The refereeing group, we had a debrief last night and we know it's a work in progress for us as well.”
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