Eddie Jones believes that World Rugby have an opportunity to be proactive and show leadership after a worrying trend emerged in the Six Nations.<\/p>\n
He stated that after fellow ex-Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie highlighted the lack of a lineout contest during the tournament\u2019s opener between France and Ireland<\/a> on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n McKenzie said that France<\/a> repeatedly set up a short, quick lineout with the players moving and jumping before the hooker even settled at the mark before throwing in.<\/p>\n Lineout contest issue raised<\/p>\n World Rugby<\/a> have placed an emphasis on speeding up the game and limiting the amount of ball out of play time by introducing a shot-clock on the set-pieces and kicks at goal.<\/p>\n In November 2024, the World Rugby Council greenlit a host of global law trials, which included the one that skewed throws would no longer be punished if the defensive team did not contest in the air.<\/p>\n The updated law now reads: \u201c18.23 The ball must: a. be thrown in straight along the mark of touch towards a lineout player;<\/p>\n \u201cSanction: If the non-throwing team does not lift a teammate to compete for the ball, then play shall continue. If the non-throwing team lift a teammate to compete for the ball, then they shall be offered the option of a lineout or scrum. If the lineout is chosen and the ball is again not thrown straight, a scrum is awarded to the team that originally threw in the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Former referee boss for the IRFU Owen Doyle has taken aim<\/a> at the law trial and has urged World Rugby to address the matter and McKenzie has now aired similar concerns as he believes that Ireland weren\u2019t provided with the opportunity to compete due to France\u2019s tactics.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were times when the lineout was already in motion, and the French hooker wasn\u2019t even in position,\u201d he said in reaction to the game at the Stade de France.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t know if that was tactical or excitement, but I thought this happened a couple of times, and I thought, \u2018Well, is there something going on there?\u2019 Because it does not give the hooker any time to stand there and get nervous, he just had to get there and literally toss the ball in. The whole lineout thing for me is different now.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no contest in the lineout now, the teams that run in and jump. I don\u2019t know about the crooked throws or whatever, and how it\u2019s applied.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes the contest have to be at the point the ball is won, or is this a contest in general? Like, if you lift in defence and the ball\u2019s thrown crooked, is that a problem? Or do you have to lift in defence where the ball\u2019s being won, and if it\u2019s crooked, then the referee has to do something?<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be no real contest in the lineout anymore. So, that\u2019s possibly a problem for the game in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie Jones\u2019 verdict on where France \u2018looked pretty ordinary\u2019 as ex-Wallabies boss believes Ireland reverted to being \u2018spoilers\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Eddie Jones\u2019 reaction<\/p>\n Jones<\/a> added that he is uncertain about the exact phrasing of the law, adding that there may be too much room for interpretation from the referee, but insists that there has to at least be the opportunity to have a genuine contest for possession.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not sure, mate,\u201d he said in reference to the law trial.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone is, but France clearly had a tactic to get the ball in as quickly as possible and the simplicity of their lineout stood out. They won the ball, quickly shifted the ball from that point.<\/p>\n \u201cI think generally the law is that there\u2019s gotta be a genuine contest for the ball, for the referee to call it not straight, and a genuine contest is on the interpretation of the referee.<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n \u201cHas it got to be where the ball is won? Common sense, it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI agree on that,\u201d McKenzie replied.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the point is that, early in the game, both teams were just literally running in and jumping; it\u2019s impossible to set any sort of meaningful defence on a shorter line, particularly at that point.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, good on France, they were playing their forwards wider, much wider. If there\u2019s no line contest in the lineout, then your second rowers don\u2019t have to be able to jump as traditionally used to be the case, and France got a couple of really good, ball-carrying second-rowers and then Auradou came on.\u201d<\/p>\n Need for a fair contest<\/p>\n