Was anyone else getting as annoyed as me at the blatant feeding of the scrums? Is this the norm now because if so we may as well have uncontested Rugby League style scrums where the scrum is used merely as a way of getting the ball back into play.What is the point of pushing like hell on an oppo scrum when the SH is rolling it straight to the second row's feet?
Grump over - back to nursing my violent hangover.Glad I'm on holiday this week!!

the whole performance of the officials became more of a joke as the game went on

Bish - totally agree with you and it's possible this contributed to the penalty try. With Azam able to push and not strike for the ball, a lack of concentration on our part and it's seven points. I admire Mr Lewis with the no warnings, no series of reset scrummages - very direct but do wish he had allowed a fair competiotin in the front rows.

The other grump is the Nicky try that was not given. I am certain that the try was scored i's just that there wasn't a camera angle that captured it. If the referee has asked if there was any reason the try could not be scored then it would have been allowed ?
The other decision that caused debate in our house was the penalty against Courtner Lawes. Wilson and Lawes doubled hit a player. Wilson stayed on his feet and Lawes went to ground with the Gloucs player - by definotion Lawes now the tacker and able to regain his feet and play the ball without coming through the gate ?

I still think Mr Lewis had a very good game in comparison with Bryce Lawrence the previous evening.

Re the Nicky "try"

I was DIRECTLY above where he touched down. We could see hand, ball, line and players.

I can assure you it was short of the line.

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David Lowrence

Real men don't use instructions - they are only the manufacturers' opinion on how to put the thing togeher

StArbiter - the courtney decision confused me as well, he was obviously a tackler and did everything right.

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I was up in the South Stand too St M. There may have only been a blade of grass between the ball and the line but it was definitely short.

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Come On You Saints

I have one question as I could not see it that well.

When Myler kicked the ball before they got the penalty try scrum, was it touched and went out behind the try line or did he kick it straight out behind his own line? Thanks

Quote:

Come in Number 10....

When Myler kicked the ball before they got the penalty try scrum, was it touched and went out behind the try line or did he kick it straight out behind his own line? Thanks

When a team takes a ball into in goal they take responsibility for what happens next i.e. ensuring the ball comes back into the field of play. So either of your scenarios would lead to a Glos scrum. I think a Glos player got a hand to the ball which then went into touch in goal.

charged down without leaving the in goal area so no problem with the 5 meter scrum.

Lewis had a good game as refs go. He allowed a very fast, fluent game of rugby which was a great advert for the game.

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StArbiter - now that my head is clearing a little I can see that if feeding the scrum is now accepted any advantage the side putting in has may be slightly negated by the oppo just accepting they've got no chance of taking one against the head and just pushing instead.
Still seems wrong to me though.

Feeding is becoming more and more the norm in the scrum, with virtually every team doing it (including us). It's just the severity that seems to get picked up (on the very rare occasion that it is picked up).

It's still funny to hear commentators shouting about it (especially Brian Moore - I am sure he'll do himself a mischief one of these days). I suspect that is more of a hangup of the commentators using their interpretation of how the rules were when they played.

As for the try/no try issue, it did originally look like it wouldn't be a try but that the forward momentum applied by a Saintly body may have been enough to push the ball over if Besty and then Dowson hadn't got in the way.

In all, though I may grumble about the rapidity of the penalty try I don't think the ref had a bad game. He seemed to want the game to flow. I guess I'll just have to watch it again (and again).

In the run up to our second try, was John Clarke not 2m into touch before passing the ball back onto the pitch and also during the same passage there was a knock on from Sharman, both missed by the officials. But given the nature of the game and the speed at which it was played I'm much happier to settle for those sorts of errors rather than see the scrum half put the ball at the feet of 4 or 5. Unless of course they are against us

The Lawes penalty I thought was a shocker, but Lewis determined that it was a double tackle rather than a individual one so Lawes had to return back behind Wilson before he could fight for the ball. IMHO Lawes was the sole tackler, Lewis had a different interpretation.

Quote:

St.Marlowe
I was DIRECTLY above where he touched down.

You always have a 'Godlike' presense, wherever you are.

I thought it was a bit odd of Mr Lewis giving the dickson try, then changing his mind and asking the tmo, like wise the little try, saying held up, then asking hte tmo.
I guess he didn't want the old 'ref made bad ruling and so ruined a close game' call by either side, so good on him there.
Re the little try, it did look very close, but the slow mo showed clear grass between his arm and the line and the ball was behind his arm, I think if he took the chance and fully extended his arm and just used the downward pressure keeping it in his hand he would have got it, but he was very unlucky.

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Its all about interpretation, I'm right everyone else is interpreting it incorrectly!
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The Sharman knock on is a red herring. I think sir had decided it was knocked out of his hand by an offside/on the floor player as he clearly gives us advantage as the ball goes forward.

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I thought that the Sharman try looked like a (deliberate) knock-on from a Glos hand, hence our advantage.

Thought Robinson played Sharman's arm so no deliberate knock-on from Glos, but do agree with StRich that he was quite possibly off-side at the time

Rich is correct (he knows his herrings). Lewis put his arm straight out and played advantage for the offside. Clear as day if you watch it again. Poor commentating and analysis by Sky, but not the only example.

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Saint til I die

Quote:

Howlin
Poor commentating and analysis by Sky...

Shurely shome mishtake?