HS yellow cards raise unique US issue

Yellow cards at last weekend's youth championships pointed up a policy question that is by and large novel to America.

Two of the better games, the Gonzaga-Jesulit high school semifinal and the Highland-United under-19 final, saw a player suspended for 10 minutes. The penalty, the same as in a conventional match, struck many as disproportionate since school-age playoff matches are 70 and sometimes just 50 minutes long.

Not a few youth leaders assert the sanction should be 6 minutes, just as yellow cards in 7s span 2 minutes in a 7-minute half.

As a safety measure, International Rugby Board regulations limit youth players to a maximum amount of minutes for any given day, but the governing body's policy isn't meant to address local circumstances, such as the US geography and economics that force playoffs to concentrate several matches in a two-day frame. Thus the IRB has advised USA Rugby that the union is on its own, according to people familiar with the matter.

No less than three USA Rugby committees discussed the matter earlier this spring. Two favored reducing the penalty. But status quo prevailed after the union's rugby committee noted that the penalty is modeled on long-term IRB studies concluding it typically takes 10 minutes for a team with a man advantage, in an otherwise evenly matched contest, to score a try. That is, the penalty is not proportionate to the game's duration.

The rugby committee additionally noted that when the pitch is shorter or narrower than normal, field measurements such as the 5-, 10- and 15-meter lines for scrums, lineouts, restarts, and penaltes are not prorated. (There are no standard rugby field dimensions, only minimums.) By analogy, neither should time be adjusted.

Still, if the American situation is unique, then leaning on overseas research is precarious in the sense that the game is dynamic (not least because the IRB itself frequently toys with the laws), and so the findings might become dated. Moreover, there is a question of legitimacy among the US playing community.

Any change would require USA Rugby to modify an established law, and so would have to be approved by the directors.

Comments

[Bruce Carter]

The assumption that the sin-bin should last for one-fourth of the length of the playing interval is a false one.

Consider: it is not reduced in 35-minutes U19 games, and it is not reduced in twenty-minute overtime periods played in knock-out competitions such as the RWC or USA playoffs.

The sin-bin in fifteens is meant to last ten minutes. Anything less reduces the penalty, reduces the preventative effect, and reduces the advantage to the opponents.

[cant do with them or w/o them]

Its really about the ref.

If a team is playing dirty or unfairly who cares if they lose the match with a yellow card(s) in an abbreviated match.

On the other hand, some ref's hand out yellows like candy at Halloween. They have reputations for using yellows frequently in every match they ref. This isn't the end of the world as teams can recover over the whole of 80 minutes. But if you are unlucky enough to get one of these yellow crazed refs in an abbreviated match or in OT, well, you're screwed because there is not enough time to recover in most instances.

[Eagle Fan]

I don't see how this is a unique issue to the US as the title claims. U-19 matches are played all over the world and are mandated by law to be 70-minute matches. I agree with Bruce, you can't reduce a sanction in a 15's match with abbreviated times since the sanction is based on the time it takes to score a try. If your playing in a 15's tournament with 20 minutes halves, it's still a 10-minute sin bin for a yellow card. Simply put, play within the laws.

Can't do with them or w/o them: maybe it's really about the players who can't help but not read the law book?

[tbear]

Eagle Fan,

the issue comes when in the USA for U19 National Championships we play 2 games in a day with each one lasting 35 minutes(because of the 70 minute of play time per day rule. A 10 minute Yellow card is almost 1/3 of the game.

[Green]

I've played 15s tournaments where the sin bin is not 10 minutes . . .

[Nick]

tbear,

You have your numbers all wrong.

The per-day limit is 90 minutes, hence the matches on the first day of the tournament are 45 minutes.

[Eric Pittelkau]

"(There are no standard rugby field dimensions, only minimums.)" Actually, the IRB specifies maximum field dimensions of 100 meters long, 70 meters wide, and 22 meter in-goals. Nobody specifies minimums that I'm aware of. Except the Mid-Atlantic which does specify minimums and other safety requirements (http://www.marfu.org/marfufieldsize.php).

And the 22-meter line should always be 22m from the goal line regardless of field length, the 10 meter line is always 10m from the halfway line, and the 5/15 meter lines are always 5/15m from the touchline, regardless of actual field length or width.

[old beaver]

I just finished my 8th season coaching HS rugby and I have never hearn anyone complain about the length of yellow card foul.
If one sought to make the time proportional to the 80 minute game, the time would would be 8 mins 45 sec in the bin.
Games are not won or lost within a 75 second window. A better idea, DON'T CHEAT!

[ref power, NOT!]

Or don't be unlucky enough to have a power freak of a ref on the day.

Sorry to have to bring this up, but a few bad apples spoil the whole batch.

[ca]

Why do we even play jamboree-style formats for our championships? I've never understood that.

[DJ]

The 10 minutes to score a try thing seems a bit of fiction. Any source on those "studies" or even the IRB quoting those?

I'd be surprised if a yellow made more than a 2 point difference.

Ireland's RFU's guidelines are 7 min per yellow in a U19 match.

[Michael Sagehorn]

Whe I was a coordinator for NorCal HS I used to keep statistics on yellows and reds. If memory serves me, a significant majority were danferous tackle, punching, and stamping--all foul play. It was rarely repeated infringements. Safety should drive the length of rest. 10 minutes to calm and refocus a high school boy seems reasonable.