ONE of the purposes of writing this column is to educate players as well as spectators about the laws of the game of rugby in the hope everyone will have a better understanding.
Many players who have played for a long time often display astounding ignorance of even basic laws.
I had an incident last Saturday in a well-contested senior game between Counties and Marist Celtic out on the Racecourse. Two Counties players "tackled" a Celtic player, who was brought to the ground, so that he was tackled.
Both the Counties players stayed on their feet and were therefore not "tacklers" in the sense of the definition.
One very mature Counties player ended up in front of the "tackled" player, with his back facing towards his opponent's goal line.
From this position he went for the ball and tried to pull it from the "tackled" player's possession.
When I rightly penalised him, he protested loudly that he was the "tackler" so he could go for the ball from any direction.
He was half-right - he could go for the ball - but because he was not a "tackler" by definition, he had to turn and face his opponent's goal line and come from behind the ball, the so-called "through the gate".
Law 15 says a tackle occurs when the ball carrier is held by one or more opponents and is brought to the ground.
Opposition players who hold the ball carrier and also go to ground are known as the "tacklers", whereas holding the ball carrier and not going to ground is not a tackler.
Dozens of tackles occur in every game and players who have a good understanding of this law can use it to their advantage.
When tackling, they can make sure they go to ground, quickly release the player, then just as quickly get to their feet and attempt to play the ball.
These players can play the ball from any direction.
Arriving players from both teams may attempt to play the ball, providing they are on their feet and come from directly behind the tackled player or a tackler closest to those players' goal line.
In the incident described above, all the Counties player needed to do was go down on one knee when executing the tackle and he would then be deemed a "tackler" and could have gone for the ball from the direction he wished.
I also had conversations with two mature and well-known local rugby identities who both lamented the way the game has changed in recent years.
Peter Hankins, one of Wanganui's first class referees in the 1970-80s, took issue with the way players are allowed to "clean out" at the breakdown, usually at a tackle or subsequent ruck.
He dislikes the way such arriving players charge into opposing players to get them away from the area where players are contesting for the ball.
Some of these actions are downright dangerous, especially as the target is often unprepared for the impending huge physical impact.
Sometimes, the action is even aimed at injuring players.
The neck roll is also becoming a major problem at the breakdown as well and referees at all levels have been asked to treat this as foul play.
Interestingly, in law, a player joining a ruck must bind on to a teammate or an opponent, using the whole arm.
The bind may precede, or be simultaneous with, contact with any other part of the body of a player joining the ruck.
Players cannot charge into other players in the ruck as this is considered foul play.
So how is it that players are being allowed to charge into opposing players at a ruck or maul, particularly in Super and test rugby?
Bob Griffiths coached schoolboy and representative teams for many years and his gripe was with the way the ball is put into scrums and lineouts.
At the latter, any hint of the ball not being thrown in straight down the 1m channel usually results in a scrum, with the opposing team getting the put in, unless they get a penalty advantage.
Yet, at the subsequent scrum, halfbacks seem to be allowed to put the ball in underneath their hooker's feet - in other words, not straight along the middle line.
My answer to Griffiths was that under a new IRB ruling, halfbacks may now put the ball in under the line of their props' shoulders, but it should still be put in straight and not at an angle so that it arrives under his hooker's feet.
The ruling was made because the huge pressure exerted at a modern top level game was such that if the ball is put in straight down the middle line it is often unable to be hooked and just sits there as the two packs struggle to push each other off the ball and the scrum has to be re-set.
You may have seen some new Super Rugby referees this season.
One of them, Taranaki's Paul Williams, came to the local referees' meeting this week and talked about scrums and some of his impressions of refereeing at higher levels.
He only began refereeing in 2011, yet will be officiating at the Under 20 World Cup in Manchester in June, so has made a rapid rise up the ranks.
For any young aspiring referees, this shows the opportunities available in modern rugby.
For any other current or ex-players, it may not be long before your game doesn't have a referee so please consider taking up the whistle, at least for schoolboy rugby.
Jerome McRae made an eloquent speech in the bustling Marist clubrooms on Saturday in support of referees and asking clubs to find more referees.
I wonder what other clubs are doing about the shortage of the men in the middle?