Former Test referee Nigel Owens has added his voice to calls to change the law that has resulted in kick-tennis between teams in the Six Nations.
The kink in the lawbook has been dubbed the “Dupont Law” because of how it was first notably exploited by the French scrumhalf to give his side an advantage in the kicking game.
It has been seen in both of Scotland’s Six Nations games, where the matches have come to a halt because players, who are at least 10 metres away from catcher, do not need to retreat and can just stand still.
Players are played onside only when the catcher has advanced five metres, resulting in back-and-forth long kicks between teams.
Writing in his column for WalesOnline, former international referee Owens suggested a solution to bring an end to the dreaded kick-tennis.
“There is a loophole in the law, which has been used fairly frequently in recent months,” the ex-Test referee wrote.
“If you are more than 10 metres away from where the ball lands, you don’t have to retreat – you can stand still, until you’re put onside. As long as they don’t move forward, they can just stay still.
“As that viral clip from the Bath v Gloucester game earlier this year showed, it can create a farcical situation that is not at all entertaining to watch.
Almost like a Ping Pong game 😉#RugbyDump #PremiershipRugby #Bath #Gloucester #Rugby pic.twitter.com/9HT1vTEdd5
— RugbyDump (@Rugbydump) January 8, 2024
“Can we close the loophole? Potentially. A solution may be to say, whether you’re within 10 metres of where the ball lands or not, you still have to move back towards your own goal line until you’re put onside.
“This of course will be more work for the referee and his team, as they would now have to make sure that players retreat and not just advance.
“It wouldn’t be that hard to follow though, I think, and maybe that will allow the catching side more space to counter attack and lead to less kicking. I might be wrong, but I can’t really see any negative effect this could have anywhere else.
“Whatever the solution is, it’s clear that we need something to try and cut down the amount of kicking back and forth.
“We want to take pride in our game and the strange situations this loophole leads to can make it all look like we are watching tennis sometimes and not rugby!”
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