Some Points on Law

So, the 2012 season is well underway all across the country, in some cases we are onto week 6.  The games have been fast and furious with high level of knowledge from the players relating to the laws of tag rugby.  More so than previous years.  This makes life for us referees that much simpler.

Okay, there are a few newbies every year that look at the referee as though they had three heads after a decision has been given against them.  I'll share an example, about two weeks ago during a game, a female player on the blue team was running through and on route to score, a male player from the grey team made an attempt to tag her.  I gave a penalty against her; why?  When the male player went to tag her, she consciously, or otherwise dropped her hand to block the tag.  So much so, that she actually grabbed his hand and pushed it away.  What was curious though, was her reaction to the penalty.  First she asked what it was for, when I signaled that it was for blocking the tag, she became furious and shook her head in disgust and disbelief.  Those are the moments that you think, okay, obviously space and time don't have the same meaning for you.

Anyway, I wanted to clarify two laws in this post.  Firstly, law 3.3 "Attackers may dive to score a Try when the ball is in their possession and there is no defender within 10 meters.  The referee may at his/her discretion not award a Try where an attacker dives in order to ground the ball."

This law has been in existence since inception, however, players still believe that an attacker can never dive to score a Try.  The key to this law is "The referee may at his/her discretion not award a Try where an attacker dives in order to ground the ball."  So, my tip to players is, before kick off approach the referee and ask him/her what their interpretation of the law is, i.e what does the referee interpret as 10 meters.  Don't be hesitant to approach a referee before a game or after a game in order to clarify any law that you don't fully understand.

Another law that isn't fully understood falls under Law 6: Kicking Laws.  In Law 6 it states that "In open play the ball may only be kicked from hand and not while it is on the ground or while it is in the air, having hit the ground. Sanction: Penalty".  This happens quite frequently, it is a law that is unique (like many) to tag rugby and players get quite frustrated when penalized for infringing on this law.  Again, if players are unsure, consult the referee or venue manager prior to kick off.

Enjoy!!

New Season Approaches

The 2012 Tag Rugby season is almost upon us again. Below is a list of venues and commencement dates for the new season.


Volkswagen Tag activities will commence in early to mid April with Spring Tag Leagues to be held at:

• Queens University (Belfast)
• NUIG (Galway)
• Garryowen (Limerick) and Lansdowne (Aviva Stadium Back Pitch)

Summer Leagues commence around the country throughout May as listed below:

• Connacht Venue
• NUIG wednesday 23rd May
• Corinthians Thursday 17th May
• Sligo Thursday 10th May
• Leinster Venues
• Clontarf Wednesday (First two weeks then reverts to Thursday) 27th June
• Lansdowne Wednesday 30th May
• Naas Thursday 31st May
• Old Belvedere Wednesday and Thursday 9th& 10th May
• St. Marys (Mens League) Monday 7th May
• St. Marys/Templeogue College Wednesday and Thursday 9th& 10th May
• Suttonians Thursday 10th May
• Munster Venues
• Ballincollig Tuesday 15th May
• Highfield Thursday 17th May
• Garryowen Thursday 24th May
• Waterpark Thursday 24th May
• Ulster Venues
• Malone Wednesday and Thursday 9th& 10th May

For more information regarding Tag Rugby events in any of the above venues feel free to contact the clubs directly.

Finals Night In St. Mary's RFC.

The 2011 tag rugby season is coming to a close and on Wednesday 6Th July 2011 and Thursday 7Th July 2011 all the finals for the St. Mary's RFC tag venue will take place.  


Why not come along to St. Mary's and soak up the atmosphere on the night, either Wednesday or Thursday or both.  Everyone should be in good form and there will be food and drink after each night. 


Enjoy.

Upcoming Tag Events Across Dublin

Hi All,


Just to update everyone on some upcoming tag rugby events happening over the summer in Dublin.  


Bray Tag Fest - 23rd July


The event kicks off at 12.00 and continues throughout the day and into the evening. The main matches will be situated in Presentation College Bray, around the corner from the sea front, with the finals taking place on the actual sea front itself.

IRFU Charitable Trust - 16Th July


The IRFU Charitable Trust are running a fundraising Tag Day on 16th July at Old Belvedere RFC, Anglesea Road.


Garda Inter District Tag Tournament - 16Th July


The Garda Sports Club runs an annual inter district Tag Rugby competition. It takes place this year at the Garda grounds, Westmanstown, on Saturday July 16th commencing at 2pm. It has proved to be an enjoyable event in the past.


So why not come out and support your local tag tournament.  Have a fun filled day in the sun (hopefully).


All the best.


Good Tagging

Tagging For Charity

We all like to give a little back when we can and when we can do it and enjoy doing it then there should be no excuse.  I recently came across a news article about a charity tag rugby tournament which has being organised by the Niall Mellon Trust and co-ordinated by former Leinster hooker Bernard Jackman.  Why not read the article and find out more about this event. 


Click here to read the article - http://bit.ly/lnUBhC  


Enjoy

It's all about the tactics!

OK, I mentioned in previous posts that I would do a little on tactics and strategies.  Here is my first attempt at a tag rugby move. The move is called "shaggy ball", however, feel free to change the name of it. 

First have a look at the short animation that I've made showing the move in motion, then I will explain what is happening and how the move should work. 

This is the layout of the move. 

• Set up for this is a roll ball 5 meters out from opposition line, this move could be used in a final tag situation
• Preferably set the ball should begin from the centre of the field in front of opposition line or slightly left of centre.
• The scrum half passes to his/her left to player in first receiving position
• The player with the ball moves forward a meter before passing back inside to their right to the player in the second receiving position
• This player lines up the kick and plays the ball into the path of the on rushing player on the wing
• While the move is being done, the player on the wing should start from deep, perhaps the half way line.  About 15 meters away from the play and begin moving when the second player is about to receive the ball

For this play to be an ultimate success there are a few ingredients required.  The receiving player on the wing should be a female player, with pace and good hands failing this a male player with pace and good hands should take up the position.  The kicker should time the kick and try and place it either just into the path of the winger or into their hands.  After that, it is down to the opposition to react and if they don't then it will be a definite try.

I will work on a few more tactics and moves and post them here accordingly.  

Enjoy.

If the All-Blacks were confectionary

Hi All,

I was sent this delightful video of the legendary haka being performed by some unlikely candidates.  Enjoy.

Gingy Haka

Reasons to be fearful (New Zealand Rugby)

Reasons to be fearful - This post is from the ESPN Scrum website and outlines the fears of New Zealanders that their team may not succeed in yet another RWC finals.

I like rugby, but I don't like getting hurt. Let's try tag rugby!

If you don't want to get hurt, take up ballet.

I guess we'll start with the basic question, what is tag rugby?  Well, it is a sport, or to be more accurate, it is a pseudo sport based on rugby union.  Tag rugby follows the laws and game play of Rugby Union reasonably closely, the main exception being that no contact is permitted or encouraged.  The other differences to note is that there are no line outs or scrums in tag rugby.


So, where did it all begin?  According to http://www.trytagrugby.com the game originated in Australia sometime around 1992/1993 where it was used as a training aid by Rugby League teams.  The game quickly spread to New Zealand and other countries.  In Ireland, tag rugby is played during the summer and autumn months.  The season usually begins in May/June and runs until August/September.  


So, who plays tag rugby and is it an easy game to play if you've never played rugby before?  The simple answer is that everyone who wants to play tag rugby can play, the game is very simple; both to play and to understand.  Basically, if you can run forward and hold onto a rugby ball you're half way there.  There are various formats to allow players of all standards enjoy the game, such as mixed social leagues, mens leagues and senior mens leagues.  


How does one get involved with a team of like minded taggers?  I suppose teams are formed from three main sources.  A group of friends get together and form a team, a group of work colleagues get together and form a team or a team mates from a rugby club get together and form a team.  Don't worry, if your team is new to the game you won't be playing against team made up of AIL Division 1 rugby players. Yikes! That would be scary. No, instead your team will be assessed and placed in a league suitable to your skill level.


OK, so who organizes these tag rugby tournaments and leagues?  The main two bodies involved in the organizing of tag rugby tournaments and leagues are, the IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) and ITRA (Irish Tag Rugby Association), sometimes charities will organize a tag rugby tournament but they will be assisted by either organisation in the running of such an event.  Also, there are a number of beach tag tournaments on across the summer in various locations, more info can be found by clicking on the links below.


To find out more check out the following sites: www.irishrugby.ie/tagrugby and www.tagrugby.ie

So, there we go, a brief introduction to tag rugby.  Next time we will explore the basic laws of the game.

How to be a referee ninja!

This will be post #3 and will be a short enough post.  The title isn't suggesting that referee's carry ninja stars or use stealth to penalise unsuspecting tag rugby players!  No, this post is going to be about positioning on the field during a game if you are a tag rugby referee.  I must mention the catalyst for this post.  I was having a lucazade this evening with one of the teams that I had officiated over this evening and in the course of conversation the subject of where the referee should stand came up.  I was warned not to mention names, so I won't but the person I was talking to plays for a tag team called Dublin Welsh.  They won 27 - 7 by the way. 

On to the subject at hand.  I will give you my interpretation of where best to position yourself on the field when refereeing the game. 

For the kick off or restart, I stand on the 10 meter line facing the attacking team kicker.  I do this for two reasons; the first is to give the kicker an idea of where the 10 meter line is and therefore give him/her a marker to aim for so the ball will travel at least 10 meters.  Just to note, not all pitches are marked out with white lines to indicate where the 10 meter, 5 meter, try line and half way lines are, they are only marked by flags or cones along the sideline.

The second reason is to give the receiving team a line so they know how far to stand from the kick off. Simple.

During a game, when the ball is in play I try to stand either in line or behind the defending team.  The reason for this is to make sure that I am not going to get in the way of a pass or accidentally impede a player either defending or attacking.  This does mean it can be harder to spot forward passes but it is better that than be the reason a pass doesn't make it to an attacker who would be then through for a try, you don't want to incur that kind of wrath.

Here is a few examples of what can happen when you get your positioning slightly off.  In one game I was standing in the ground between the attacking team and the defending team.  An attacking player came running along the line towards where I was standing, meanwhile a defending player was tracking across to make the tag.  Invariably I ended up getting between the defender and the attacker.  What did I do; well I had to call back play and award a roll ball to the attacking team at the previous tag count.  This disrupts the flow of the game and aggravates the players.  Another time, I was standing in the line of the attacking team and a pass was made.  The ball struck me on the arm and went to ground.  Again, I had to call back play and restart from the previous tag. 

To finish, here is a funny anecdote from a game I was watching last year.  The referee had penalised a player for some infringement.  The player in question remonstrated with the referee and may have used foul or offensive language.  The referee had no option and had to sin bin the player for 5 minutes.  As the player was leaving the field he picked up the ball and turned to face the referee who was approx. 10 foot away from him.  He kicked the ball towards the referee and in my opinion he was just giving the ball back to her; but, unfortunately for him he had too much adrenaline and the ball struck the referee forcefully on the side of the head.  The referee interpreted this as an act of further defiance and produced a red card and showed it to a now incredulous looking player.  All he could do was walk off completely bemused.  It was not too bad as the red he received was really a second yellow and he wouldn't have suffered a major sanction be placed upon him.

Enjoy tag and remember, the tag referee ninja is always watching.