Scotland vs. Argentina

[Seaton]

Great job by Scotland in this game. Hard work in this match. I would love to see them win again this weekend. They could really go up in the rankings. What happened to Chris Paterson?

He had a really bad injury in the Six Nations, don't think he has recovered yet, dont't know if he will...

 

[Haysie]

But if, as a defender, you knew you would give away 7 points if you infringed, you would think twice about giving away a penalty - thus allowing the attacking side that bit more time to ensure quick ball and therefore create a try-scoring opportunity.

In the Argentina match, for example, would so many penalities have been conceded by Argentina had the points for a penalty been higher than the current 3?

I'm happy to acknowledge 7 points might be too high but I'm of the view that the current 3 points is not enough.

Another alternative might be to have a 'Penalty Spot' in front of goal 15 metres out. Any penalty conceded inside the 22, regardless of whereabouts inside the 22 the infringement occurred, means the penalty is taken from the spot (and is therefore an almost guaranteed score).

I see the point of your argument, but I believe that if you were to award more points for a penalty you would almost definitely see more shots at goal being taken.
Any penalty inside the 22 at the moment in world rugby is more often than not a technical error by the player, i.e. not rolling away, diving over. Very rarely do world-class flankers or other forwards just fly in at the ball with little care for giving away a penalty, as was showcased on the weekend in the Australia vs. England game. It was clear that the gameplan here was for whoever was there first to try and grab the ball and everyone else to pull out and put up a brick wall of defence, yet penalties were still given to the English for technical and unfortunate errors (particularly in the SH we see interpretations of the laws by referees playing a massive role, eg. the 'tackler rolling away' rule. Sometimes you can't get out. Is that worth more than 3 points?)

 

[TRF_Olyy]

He had a really bad injury in the Six Nations, don't think he has recovered yet, dont't know if he will...

Wasn't that Thom Evans?
I thought Paterson bruised his kidney

 

[Seaton]

Wasn't that Thom Evans?
I thought Paterson bruised his kidney

Evans did get a bad injury, but I don't think that Paterson has played since, if Edinburgh match reports are to go by.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ah i getya, yeah i think he had to have surgery on it, which will have put him out for a while

 

[Paterson13]

Evans did get a bad injury, but I don't think that Paterson has played since, if Edinburgh match reports are to go by.

That's not good. Hope he recovers. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[polonius]

I see the point of your argument, but I believe that if you were to award more points for a penalty you would almost definitely see more shots at goal being taken.
Any penalty inside the 22 at the moment in world rugby is more often than not a technical error by the player, i.e. not rolling away, diving over. Very rarely do world-class flankers or other forwards just fly in at the ball with little care for giving away a penalty, as was showcased on the weekend in the Australia vs. England game. It was clear that the gameplan here was for whoever was there first to try and grab the ball and everyone else to pull out and put up a brick wall of defence, yet penalties were still given to the English for technical and unfortunate errors (particularly in the SH we see interpretations of the laws by referees playing a massive role, eg. the 'tackler rolling away' rule. Sometimes you can't get out. Is that worth more than 3 points?)

Mmmm.. I disagrre with some/most of this ;-)

A technical infringement isn't just a bit of bad luck nor an unfortunate error. It is almost always a deliberate decision by a player to slow down opposition ball. You say very few world class flankers or other forwards deliberately do this. I say they do it all the time. That's why referees show the yellow card and my great regret is they don't do it often enough.

Punish the offence heavily and the infringements will stop. Put it this way (and not that I'm advocating it) - if the punishment for handling in the ruck was a penalty, a red card and an extended suspension ... well, you wouldn't see any more handling in the rucks, would you?