9/20 B Side: Raleigh Vipers vs. NOVA

After winning the Division 2 National Championship in 2007 the Raleigh Rugby Club elected to move up to division 1. Raleigh now competes in the MARFU Division 1 competition which includes a couple current and former Super League clubs (Charlotte, Washington). In their first foray into Division 1 Raleigh has defeated Pittsburgh Harlequins 47-0 and narrowly lost to Charlotte (Super League Playoff competitors) 25-27. Their opponent on this day was NOVA - a club that has historically been a top performer but has fallen off in 15s over the past few years. their sevens side, however, is still very strong.

Raleigh won the A-side game 22-0 in what turned out to be a very scrappy affiair. About 10 minutes into the game a very controversial try was scored. NOVA hesitantly took a quick throw in near their try line. The lineout had not formed yet and most players were the vicinity of the line of touch but no distinct two players had marked the line. The quick throw in went to a NOVA player in his try zone from where he tried to clear but Raleigh's scrumhalf managed to charge the kick / knock the ball from the NOVA player's hands and dive on the ball for the . NOVA, however, were adamant that the ball had been knocked from his hands - meaning a knock forward against Raleigh. In the midst of the confusion over whether the lineout was formed and all the players standing around the referee clear up what had happened - neither could I or the other assistant referee - so the try stood. From that point the game got scrappier and scrappier as the NOVA boys were upset with the refereeing and Raleigh continued to push the limits of the law at the breakdowns. Raleigh rounded out their score with a few more tries to 22-0.

I was in charge of officiating the B -game. NOVA came down to raleigh with only 25 players or so, so many of the NOVA A players were in the game, as were many non-training Raleigh Rugby players. Raleigh's strategy at the breakdown continued in this game. Apparently Raleigh have decided to be as agressive in the breakdown as possible - coming in the side, putting hands in, etc. I called A LOT of penalties in this game for infringements at the breakdown - if I had given a yellow card early it may have prevented this. I told the players a short-time into the second half that the next breakdown penalty I see - hands in, coming in the side, etc. is a card. This cleaned it up, but I think it was definetly the wrong way of doing things. It is important that the players are responsible for their actions - not the referee. I needed to tell the captains to tell the team to sort it out so I dont have to - taking the onus off of me and onto the captain's shoulders. I also had some issues in the game with offside around the fringes - but I just thought the Raleigh scrumhalf was slow pulling it out and the NOVA players were legitimately onside.

Overall, the game was a tough one to control with NOVA being so unhappy with their loss and controversial try, and Raleigh being so aggressive at the breakdown - this resulted in me making a couple bad calls and an overall bad game. The main lesson learned from this game was to stamp my authority early and give the card when I dont like how the breakdown is working. I have still yet to give a yellow card for repeated infringements - I have only given yellow cards for high tackles, punches, etc.