In case you’re coming back to tag for the summer or joining a league with the new tag laws for the first time, or just need a refresher, here’s some information on what’s changed in the laws of tag rugby in 2023.
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12 tips for a one-day event
Whilst our week-to-week refereeing at our venues is the bread and butter of refereeing, as we move towards summertime and one-day events, here’s 12 tips on how to make your day as good as it can be, both for you and for the players.
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Communication
As we have previously discussed in this blog, communications are key when refereeing.
Keeping the players (and spectators) aware of what’s going on is a great habit to get into as a ref. Everyone wants to know what’s happened, what the call is, and what they need to do next. Spectators can get frustrated easily if the calls aren’t clear. So get your communication right: whistle, signal, and voice (in that order) are the ingredients. Think of what the players would want to know. But keep it concise: people have come to play, not to listen to you!
But whilst we say that whistle, signal, and voice are the ingredients, how can you increase the effectiveness of these and what good habits are useful to know? We asked World Cup referee Matt Blades to give us an insight into his view on how to communicate effectively whilst refereeing.
Tag rugby unofficial interpretations
Over the last while I’ve compiled a list of interpretations and vaguely common things that happen on a tag rugby pitch but that aren’t covered well in the laws of the game. I’m sharing this list to give readers some suggestions of how to handle these occurrences, and hopefully to provide some element of consistency in how things are handled at different leagues.
Advantage
After safety, the advantage law is the most important law of the game. When used well, it allows the game to flow, prevents defending players from delaying play by committing violations, and promotes positive play.
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Habits of a highly effective referee
Whether you’re just setting out on your first few matches or you’ve been refereeing for years, here’s some recommendations on how to make sure you and your players all have a great time in your tag rugby match.
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Three seconds ref!
“Three seconds ref”! Frequently shouted, often misunderstood. What exactly is the three-second rule anyway? For my first article I’m going to cover one of the classic laws.
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Welcome to Respect the Yellow
Hello everyone, and welcome to my new tag rugby referee blog.
I’m Thomas Ralph and I referee tag rugby for Try Tag Rugby in the UK. I’ve been refereeing here since about 2011 prior to which I refereed in Ireland for ITRA.
I intend for this blog to have two main kinds of posts: about my own experiences or reflections, and then advice or guidance for refs. Maybe it will expand further, maybe it won’t. Maybe there’ll be more writers in future, maybe not. But if you’re a tag rugby referee, I hope it’ll be interesting to you.
I suppose I should be clear that I’m writing this in a personal capacity and anything that appears on the site is the view only of the author, and not of TTR or any other organization.