Martin's Rugby Coaching Forum

Hoi,

My clubteam got 10 penalties in the first half for the opposition coming from offside into the ruck. What is the norm for giving a yellow card? Or is Yellow only something individual? It destroyed our game.....

Would like to hear,

C.

Catherine

It is difficult to set in stone when a yellow card is warranted. There are so many variables (pressure, time span, moment in the game, score etc etc). However we can set out a proces that could be effective.
Direct yellow - it is possible to give a yellow card directly - for example when an offence prevents a score or a high tackle. This need not be part of a sanction raising proces. If the incident is serious enough then it must be dealt with.

A different issue is repeated infringements.
A referee would do well to follow the following guidelines:
1. After the second or third offence it would be good to take the captain aside and give him a warning about his teams behaviour. This gives the captain the chance to take charge of his team and is the first step in the proces. If it is one player who is repeatedly offending then it is important that the referee ensures that he is singled out and that both the player and his captain are aware of the referees concerns.
2. If this has not achieved a result, then after another 2 penalties it would be advisable for the referee to give a 'final' warning. However avoid saying things like 'the next player who offends will go'' - uses words like ''I have already asked you to take control of your players, this has not helped, and if they continue to offend you will leave me no choice but to use another sanction'
3. Clearly if the situation persists the referee has no choice but to act. He is left no other choice but to use a card, and he would do well to remind the captain of the proces set out in points 1 and 2.
4. If the problem 'goes away' only to return later in the game, as is often the case, it is important for the referee to use a shorter proces - i.e. 'Captain we have already spoken about this ...' etc.
Most of this is about management and communication. A lot of cards can be prevented by signaling the technical problems at an early stage, communicating with the captains and asking for their cooperation, but being strong enough to act when needed.