Quins V Saracens Sun 3pm

[Banquo]

The ref allowed a huge amount of competition at the breakdown... most of it illegal. But he took the Owens' approach of if no one actually rips the ball away, and he's a bit bored, he'll tell them all to leave it so play can go on. If they do secure it, it doesn't matter too much if it was illegal (like the Sarries turnover). Dislike the approach myself.

Not the way I saw it- he just let the attacking player hang on until the defender was cleared out, but you say tomato etc. Either way, pretty unedifying as you say.

[Timbo]

Not the way I saw it either. I think Sarries could easily have had 6+ penalty turnovers at the breakdown yesterday.

And not my view of Nigel Owens either, who tends to reward defensive teams at the breakdown quite a bit...see Champions Cup final last season for eg.

[fivepointer]

The ref did give the attacking side a fair degree of latitude. But as long as he sets his stall out early and is consistent i can live with it.
I do wish all refs would be stricter on players going off their feet and simply flopping on the tackled player/tackler. That really does kill off any possible contest for the ball.

[Raggs]

The ref did give the attacking side a fair degree of latitude. But as long as he sets his stall out early and is consistent i can live with it.
I do wish all refs would be stricter on players going off their feet and simply flopping on the tackled player/tackler. That really does kill off any possible contest for the ball.

The new guy (first prem game) that did Wasps vs Irish was very strict on rolling away and the breakdown, he had a very good game indeed, helped on occasion by his tmo/ARs when needed.

[Banquo]

The ref did give the attacking side a fair degree of latitude. But as long as he sets his stall out early and is consistent i can live with it.
I do wish all refs would be stricter on players going off their feet and simply flopping on the tackled player/tackler. That really does kill off any possible contest for the ball.

I agree with setting your stall out early, but not this approach. Need to be encouraging competition at the breakdown, as it will draw numbers in...and so on.

Scatter rucking, which leads to the flopping over as well, is a blight imo.

[Mellsblue]

It’s just another step away from the premise that there is always a competition for the ball.