The trial games are over, teams have been selected, referees appointed for the first round of the 2010 Super 14 Competition. Kick off is on Friday 12th February when International Referee Stuart Dickinson blows his whistle to start the Blues v Hurricanes clash at North Harbour Stadium.

Round 1   SANZAR Referee appointments
Blues v Hurricanes          Stuart Dickinson Aus
Western Force v Brumbies     Steve Walsh Aus
Cheetahs v Bulls          Jonathon Kaplan SA
Crusaders v Highlanders      Chris Pollock SA
Reds v Waratahs          Craig Joubert SA
Lions v Stormers          Mark Lawrence SA
Sharks v Chiefs          Keith Brown NZ

SANZAR have agreed to continue with a merit based refereeing appointment system whereby  neutrality is not a criteria when appointing referees to matches – the best referee will referee the best matches regardless of where the referee comes from.

John O’Neill at the Australian 2010 Super launch stated he was looking for “winning rugby and entertaining rugby”. Fans from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would all concur with his comment. Will the players, coaches and referees come to the party and produce the goods - we will know very shortly?   

What has changed for 2010 Super 14 – Experimental Law Variations (ELV’s) are gone - a lot of infringements that were free kicks in 2009 will revert back to being penalty kicks in 2010:

Tackle
If the ball becomes unplayable, a scrum will be awarded to the team going forward if neither team are moving forward the feed will go to the attacking team.

Lineout
The team throwing in the ball determines the maximum number of players in the lineout.

Maul
Players cannot defend the maul by pulling it down.
If a ball becomes unplayable after a maul is formed - a scrum will be awarded to the team not in possession of the ball at the start of the maul or if after an opponents kick (player catchers ball on the full) the catchers team will be awarded the scrum.







Referees instructed by SANZA
The phases of the game that have caused the most frustration for the fans have been the continual repacking of scrums, the tackle area and off sides. SANZAR in an attempt to address these areas have instructed referees to be strict on their interpretation of the following:

Tackle: Tackler to release the tackled player immediately and roll away or get to their feet. Arriving players must stay on their feet. This should result in less interference by the tackler producing quicker ball for the attacking team.

Scrum: Control the engagement Props must hit straight and have their shoulders going up Get the ball fed ‘asap’. This enhances the chance of the scrum being contestable and stable resulting in less reset (lets hope so collapsed scrums are blight on the game).

Off side at kick Players in front of the kicker must stand still until put onside. The objective here is to give the receiving team time and space to counter attack.

Maul: Look for obstruction at kick offs and line outs before a maul has formed (players in front of the catcher interfering with oponents). This should make these areas of the game more contestable.

The above changes of interpretation will hopefully return Super 14 to being one of the premier competitions in the world rugby. Friday night’s opening games Blues v Hurricanes and Western Force v Brumbies should give all Super 14 fans a good indication of the type of rugby we can expect to see in 2010.