Rugby educator here to lay down the law

WARWICK SMITH/Manawatu Standard

LAW MAN: Rugby educator Matt Peters.

Relevant offers

When Matt Peters explains the illegal ploys being used by teams at the tackle and ruck, he issues a warning.

They will never watch rugby the same way again, especially the contact zone.

Peters, Manawatu's rugby education officer, is referring to players coming in from the side of rucks, off their feet, illegal counter-rucking when players aren't bound, making dangerous cleanouts and a lethal emerging trend, the neck roll.

He has footage of hundreds of illegalities from last year's Air New Zealand Cup competition alone. It shows players grabbing opponents around the neck and flipping them over wrestling style.

Peters has been pushing for change at national level.

He did an analysis of the 2007 and 2009 competitions and found there was "nil" improvement, with few referees picking up the illegal play.

Peters said it was difficult for the referee to pick it up as he watched the ball and when it was sealed off, he missed the peripheral stuff. One team last year sent in waves of players from the side, rather than through "the gate", and they became one big blur.

"The ball-carrying team is doing all the infringing," Peters said.

With rugby more professional, there was a greater demand for points and wins and the worrying sign was that illegal play was being coached up to representative level.

"The game has started to resemble something that isn't rugby," Peters said.

When he has educated referees and coaches about what's happening, they get their game back. He has succeeded in eliminating illegal play since he has been in Manawatu.

He said the penalty count rise dropped massively when teams adopted legal play. Both teams then had equal rights to the ball.

"The teams that have adapted best are usually there at the end of the season."

He says foul play and serious injuries decline because the cause is tidied up.

"When rugby is played within the laws it is as safe as any sport," Peter said. "It's how you coach and ref and play it."

He has no time for players who run past the ruck and stand offside or wrestle with and clean out an opponent to create holes – that's obstruction, or a "running pillar".

The cleanout is dangerous. All Black hooker Andrew Hore was seriously injured when cleaned out in the last Hurricanes match at Sydney.

"Look at the injuries to our elite players, it's no accident."

Peters says unless all coaches buy into eliminating illegal play, nothing will change.

He said no-one wanted penalty counts of 25-26 a game.

He worked with the Manawatu Turbos on their work at the breakdown and they were the best at recycling in the competition, at putting bodies past the ball but staying on their feet.

"It sets up a guy like Aaron Cruden so well."

Peters said Dave Rennie's New Zealand under-20s did it well in Argentina yesterday, too.

Many of the problems began with professional rugby in 1996. Players began bridging, hitting and sealing off the ball by driving off their feet.

Peters' statistics show only 3 per cent of tries in the Air NZ Cup were scored after eight phases or more, because most of the ball was slow and defensive lines were set.

Seventy-nine per cent of tries came from turnovers or within three phases.

- © Fairfax NZ News