RugbyRebels

Scrum feeding refereed properly in France after Churchill-inspired law change
Top 14 officials are conducting a World Rugby-approved trial to address one of fans’ great bugbears, the crooked feed

Also clamping down on swimming up the outside of a maul

Well played Raynal - sounds like he's doing a belting job.

I did enjoy this bit:

Mathieu Raynal wrote:"This has come from the coaches. Ninety per cent of feeds last season were straight into the second row. We want more equity. I have said to them: ‘OK, we will referee it, but we will not do one step back in a month when everyone complains.’

"And that’s exactly what has happened. They are starting to complain. And I have said to them: ‘We will continue to do it.’

Always the big thing with deciding to enforce a law stringently - everyone says it's a great idea, then penalties start to roll in and coaches and pundits start whinging about the referee ruining the game and ruining the viewer experience, then referees relax it a little bit, and then we end up back where we were in the beginning. It'll be an achievement if Raynal manages to keep his referees holding their nerve long enough for players to adapt and the whining to die down.

Puja

Yup.
And whenever coaches and players complain about these things, my response is always the same "Have you tried... not cheating?*"



*Obviously, that's just "not cheating" at whatever point of law they're complaining about, not "not cheating" at rugby, as that's just a ridiculous idea. Cheating is literally the oldest and greatest tradition in our sport!

French refs enforcing a straight feed!!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... l%20reform.

Wish they'd take that up here.

I'm liking Raynal more and more. Makes a good point on the maul as well