Date/Time: Saturday, January 07, 2017 (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
Organizer: The University of Oklahoma Men’s Rugby

Clinic Details

Map/Directions

Registration Information & Fees

Clinic Description

Pre-course Registration Requirements.  Students must complete the following World Rugby online modules available at the World Rugby Passport website.  First, register with WR on their Passport website that you will access with the noted links.  After completing each module, download the certificate you will receive from WR and email it to education@usarugby.org where it will be uploaded into your USA Rugby member profile.  The three WR modules to be completed in order to register for this course are: The online WR law exam found at https://laws.worldrugby.org/. World Rugby’s online Rugby Ready program found at https://rugbyready.worldrugby.org/ The WR Concussion Management for the General Public module found at https://www.playerwelfare.worldrugby.org/concussion.

Location & Contact Information
Facility: The University of Oklahoma 660 Parrington Oval Norman, OK  73019	Course Host: Douglas Neubauer Email: dneubaue@hotmail.com Phone: 817-360-5368
Other Information/Notes:

Register Now!

Please note that we have made an adjustment to the match change request. In the past you would contact your divisional rep and the TRU Admin. While this was effective, it unfortunately did create quite a bit of work as not all information was always available. To cut down on the back and forth, we’ve created an Add/Change/Drop Form.

With this form we can more effectively track changes to see patterns and be more efficient.

Changes within 14 days

Note that changes that are within 14 days of the event will incur a $50 fee. Every effort is made to assign referees weeks out and when teams make requests to add, change or drop a match this is a major inconvenience for all parties involved. If your match change request falls within 14 days, payment will need to be made FIRST and then the change will be processed.

Note that this fee will be applied to all teams that utilize the TRRA. Any attempts to circumvent this by alerting a referee of a match change but not using this form will be referred to the appropriate authority to determine if sanctions should be applied.

Add/Change/Drop Form

Note that this policy has been adopted by the TRRA!

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Under no circumstances are team coaches allowed to approach the referee at half-time.

If they do, you ask them to convey all questions through their captain, but you absolutely do not discuss anything with the coach at half-time. If the coach persists the referee will EJECT the coach from the grounds. Zero tolerance approach should be applied and if the person refuses to leave the referee should request that team’s captain to assist. Failing compliance the referee may abandon the match.

Regards
RICHARD EVERY | USA Rugby High Performance Referee Manager

These changes are effective as of February 1, 2016 for the Northern Hemisphere, this includes all matches played in the TRU or as RRRC league matches.

Law 3 – Number of Players

3.5, which addresses the number of players who are capable of playing in the front row, and how their number affects the total number of players a team may use has been re-written for better clarity with no substantive changes. The part of this section which covers uncontested scrums has been split and now is a separate section (3.6). All the subsequent sections have been re-numbered.

3.12, which covers substituted players rejoining the match (now re-numbered to 3.14) has had one additional condition added. In addition to front row replacement, blood injury replacement and (in Elite games with WR permission) temporary replacement for Head Injury Assessment, a substituted player may be used to replace a player who was injured as a result of Foul Play (as verified by the Match Officials).

Law 4 – Player Clothing (Clarification)

Player jerseys must have sleeves that extend at least half way from the point of the shoulder to the elbow.

Law 5 – Time (Clarification)

In the last year there were a couple of Clarifications regarding what happens when there is a score very close to the end of the half or the game. Those have been incorporated into Law [5.7 (g) and (h)]. In essence, if the the conversion kick is taken (or the try awarded and the team chooses not to take the conversion per 9.B.2) before time expires, the next restart will happen even if time expires between the kick and when the players are prepared to restart. And, if a restart is taken under these circumstances with time expired, and the kick is taken incorrectly (e.g. not ten, etc.), the referee will offer the options in Law 13.

Law 6 – The Referee’s Authority

6.C, which covers persons coming onto the pitch to treat injured players has been re-written to make distinction between qualified and unqualified medical staff. Sub-sections 2 and 3 have been combined into one.

Law 8 – Advantage

The section listing situations where advantage cannot be played (8.3) has seen collapsed scrums removed. The referee now has the option of playing advantage if he feels players are not endangered. The referee DOES NOT have the option of playing advantage if the front row is lifted.

Law 9 – Scoring

In the 7s Variations, the time the kicker has to take the conversion after a try is now thirty seconds from the time the try is awarded.

Law 10 – Foul Play

Unfair Play – 10.2. A new provision has been added. “A player must not commit any act that may lead the match officials to consider that that player was subject to foul play or any other type of infringement committed by an opponent.” Penalty Kick Section 10.3 (b) – Repeated Infringements. The last sentence has been removed. The referee is no longer constrained in how a second repeat offender is handled.

Law 12 – Throw Forward

The definition has been slightly re-written for clarity with regard to “towards the dead ball line.” The definition has also been augmented to include the Clarifications regarding balls being knocked or ripped out of the ball carrier’s hands by a defender.

Law 17 – Maul

This isn’t a Law change, but rather some guidance on the application. The ball in a maul may be moved backwards hand-to-hand. A player is not allowed to move/slide to the back of the maul when that player is in possession of the ball.

Law 19 – Lineout

19.4 (b), which addresses the ball being knocked-on into touch has been revised to also include thrown-forward into touch (which was already part of 12.1). (Clarification)

The section addressing blocking the throw-in has been re-written so that it applies to all players (not just lineout players). 19.10 (h)

Law 20 – Scrum

There is now a specific time on the “no delay in forming a scrum”. Free kick after thirty seconds. 20.1 (d)

Front rows coming together has been slightly re-written to require the players be “ear to ear”. 20.1 (f)

Ending the scrum now includes a “use it” provision once the ball is at the last player’s feet and is not moving forward. 20.10 (d)

A scrum that has wheeled past 180 is no longer a turnover. The original team throws in again. 20.11 (b)

The scrum half of the team not in possession must now stay out of the pocket. 20.12 (c)

Law 21 – Penalty and Free Kicks

All penalty and free kicks that are awarded close to the goal line are to be given five meters out, regardless of the team (no longer just the attacking team’s penalties). 21.2 (a)

Additional Resources

151007 LRG Minor Law amendment – AGREED[5]

151007 LRG Clarifications into Law – AGREED[2]

Thirty players on one pitch, all managed by one whistle…sounds daunting, right? Not as much as you’d think, being a rugby referee means you have the best seat in the house! The TRRA is hosting the countries first ever women’s only Level 1 Referee Course (sponsored by Try on Rugby) this weekend in Houston. Along with USA Rugby’s support, the TRRA looks to increase the number of certified active female referees in Texas. Two women will earn a spot at a USA training camp during the iRB Women’s 7s series in Atlanta 7s.

Before the unprecedented event this weekend, TRRA asked some female veteran referees and newly certified referees what led them to pick up the whistle:

Jacque ‘Jac’ Harrell – C3 (College Station, TX)

Being a referee was never part of the plan, I just wanted to be a better player. Someone told me the best way to learn a sport is to be a referee of it. I figured it was a quick way to learn the rules, so I took a course at the summit in August from Traci Young. She was an amazing instructor with an incredible amount of patience and passion for the game.  She walked us through a game and we even had the chance to practice with a real scrimmage.

A few weeks later I was the center ref at a collegiate tournament. I’m a 27 year old that discovered I was scared of blowing a whistle. Luckily, Wendy and Traci Young were on the side to help me through it. They kept it upbeat and talked me through the game from the side with no ridicule. If they hadn’t of been there I might not of been a ref again after that game. I’m still reffing because I feel I still have so much more to learn about the game and there really is no better seat than right there on the pitch.

Meredith Frasier – C3 (Houston, TX)

At first I became a referee so I could become more knowledgeable about the laws, and maybe free up a higher level referee or two for women’s matches by taking a few lower level or friendly matches. Help spread one of the lesser seen burdens of a sport that’s gaining popularity quickly across more shoulders. After all, without a referee its hard to play a match. Also, at 29 I also realize that the number of years my body will be able to and family life allow me to continue playing with my team competitively are unfortunately decreasing. Refereeing gives me the option to continue on in another capacity with the sport I love.

My favorite part is the scrums. From start to finish refereeing the scrum is my favorite especially at the Senior men’s match. There is something about being right there with a few thousand pounds of men intently listening to getting ready to engage that makes me feel like I could do anything. That doesn’t mean scrums are not tricky to referee and that I take them lightly! I am a lock so I get to taste the energy without my head being squished.

A piece of advice: Don’t let your first few matches define the experience for you. After the weekend of my first two, I wanted to quit. Since I was committed to another tournament the next weekend I put off the decision, and worked hard on the referee skills that were the weakest to prepare. Now, I am so glad I stood by my commitment and didn’t give up, because I would have cheated myself out of something that I not only enjoy but out of an awesome community as well.

Traci Young – C1 (Austin, TX)

I became a certified referee in 2008. I was still playing at the time, so I couldn’t ref full-time, but I wanted to help out the college women teams as they usually got the bottom of the barrel or no referee. I refereed my first game at Corpus Christi 7s By the Sea and I was surprised at how fun it actually was and that I really wasn’t that bad.

A few years later, I was coming to the end of my playing career; however, I still had that competitive drive. I soon realized that being a referee was the next chapter in my rugby career. The TRRA was my new team and my teammates were now spread across the state. Being a referee requires me to stay physically fit and challenges me mentally. Refereeing brought new challenges as well as adventures. I have had the opportunity to referee the High School Girls National Championships, in-goal for the iRB Women’s 7s series and center the TRU Division II Championships.

Wendy Young – C1 (Austin, TX)

I took my Level 1 course in 2007 in a room full of men. I was expecting that my teammate and I would be the only females at the course, but was surprised that we were the only ones under 35. After the course I received my first Acme Thunderer whistle, yellow and red cards and a small iRB ready booklet. A few weeks later I accepted an assignment and stepped out on the pitch to referee a collegiate women’s game and was hooked.

Looking back now, I became a referee because I wanted to learn the laws, stay fit and give back to the game. At the time I was still playing competitive rugby and eventually retired in 2011 to become a full-time referee. If you’re searching for competition after hanging up your boots, refereeing has that as well. There is competition for appointments, fitness testing, law knowledge and advancement.

Looking back, I would never have imagined how much I would love it or the opportunities I’ve had and hopefully will continue to experience. My highlights would be AR/IG at the iRB (now World Rugby) Women’s 7s Series, multiple USA Appointments in 7s & 15s and refereeing the RRRC Men’s DI Club decider between the Austin Blacks and Dallas Reds last year (both final four contenders in the USA Rugby Men’s Club National Championships).