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Nigel Owens calls for law rethink after incident during Italy-Scotland
By Ian Cameron
Revered retired rugby referee Nigel Owens has voiced his concerns over the current rugby law relating to holding a player up over the goal line.
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The incident in question occurred at the Stadio Stadio Olimpico when Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe lifted and held up Italy’s fullback Ange Capuozzo in Scotland’s dead ball area, winning a goal-line drop-out for Scotland.
According to the Laws of the game “When a player carrying the ball is held up in-goal, so that the player cannot ground the ball or play the ball, the ball is dead. Play restarts with a goal line drop-out or a 5m scrum, depending on how the ball entered.”
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Owens – who retired in 2020 – isn’t a fan of the law.
Owens criticized the goal-line dropout rule for players being held up, arguing that the law favours defensive play over attacking efforts. He stated, “That is why I don’t like the goal line drop out held up law. We should be giving the benefit of the doubt and rewarding the attacking team not the defence. The game is far too much defence-oriented already.”
That is why I don’t like the goal line drop out held up law. We should be giving the benefit of the doubt and rewarding the attacking team not the defence. The game is far too much defence oriented already. #ItalyvScotland
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) March 9, 2024
His comments have ignited a conversation about the balance between attack and defence in rugby on X, with many supporting Owens’ call for a reevaluation of the rules to encourage and reward attacking play when these incidents occur.
They also need to look at the scrum it's becoming a pointless part of the game. Scrum halfs practically putting it in the no8 feet . They just aswell just give a free kick hooker's used to be able to try and nick the odd one against the head so it was worth having a scrum just pointless now front row be obsolete soon. And I don't know if they have a front row specialist up with the tmo but they should because these refs have no clue what's going on there. Just a quick question on the radio and get the correct decision because their guessing at and get a lot wrong.
That's great observation. The other absurd ruling is the double punishment of penalty try. In itself it punishment enough but adding a yellow card is just too much. This is a sport
I think the law was changed to discourage pick and goes, and lineout mauls near the line…. But, as it goes with many law changes made to embellish the game, it hasn't worked.
Agreed. I remember that if a try was held up, the attacking team would be awarded a scrum. That would bring more scrums into the game which everyone seems to be against these days.
I think more scrums would make the game more interesting. Especially 5m scrums. We’d see push over scrums (rare these days) and/or backline moves off scrums 5m out from the line. Much sexier than maul tries imho.
Scrums have never been easier to officiate. TMOs, assistant refs are all looking for the same things now. The early shove. Limbs on the ground. Not scrumming straight. This has made scrums better for the viewer.
But there are two areas that need to be addressed. Fewer restarts, I.e. immediate free kicks for not putting the ball in straight, early engages or technical faults. The good old ball to the 8th man and the quick tap needs a come back.
Scrumhalves must also go back to putting the ball in straight. So that defending teams can compete for the ball. Same concept as a lineout. This will make scrums more than just about brute force but also about winning the ball first and then putting the shove on.
Simple fixes - I love scrums. Long live the scrum.
Yes it was, trams and WR didn't like those kinds of tries. They only wanted flashy tries, I still say if you don’t like the way some teams play, find a better way to beat them, if you can’t do that then and want to stop watching, go watch Rugby League. Rugby is for all shapes and sizes, tacking the maul and scrum away prevents this.