Nigel Owens lauded for refusing to put up with loophole that's annoyed so many fans
Referee Nigel Owens has been widely praised for cracking down on Racing 92 for the practice of caterpillar rucking, the rugby craze that has infuriated many viewers over the course of the last 12 months.
The tactic sees players form an elongated ruck 'conga line', one player holding on to next, shielding scrum-halves from the pressure of defending players by effectively seeing them kick freely from upwards of 10 metres from the defensive offside line.
Owens was not tolerating the practice today during Saracens and Racing 92 semi-final match in the La Defence Arena. Owens repeatedly called 'use it', most notably when awarding a 5-metre scrum to Saracens after twice warning Teddy Iribaren to 'use' the ball.
"He's absolutely right," noted BT's Ben Kay. "It's the first time I've seen that. It was the slowest ruck I have ever seen. The Racing fans won't be happy but I think rugby fans will be happy."
The use warning may be the best way to combat the technique, which has infuriated a lot of fans who see it as an abuse of rugby law. An egregious example of the caterpillar rucking technique was used by Exeter Chiefs in 2019.
A year later and Owens was widely praised online for refusing to tolerate it.
One Twitter follower didn't agree, posting: "Nigel Owens asks people to respect the Welsh language but as a member of The British Empire refuses to use a word of French in France so shouts out 'use it' in English to cheat and give SAR a 5m scrum."
Owens replied in kind: "Seriously? You think any players don’t know what use it is? I look forward to you asking all refs to learn welsh, Italian, Fijian, South African, Spanish, Georgian, Russian, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic Tongan, Samoan Japanese. Now jog on"
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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