I’d change the remit that water-carriers have, says RFU referee Craig Maxwell-Keys

RFU referee Craig Maxwell-Keys has said that the one thing he would change in the game at the moment would be “the remit that water carriers have.”

Speaking on the latest episode of The Rugby Paper Podcast, Maxwell-Keys said: “I cannot stand the fact that they charge onto the pitch at every given opportunity.”

The return of crowds to rugby in 2021 brought the return of water-carriers. Throughout covid, players had a set water break in each half, with water remaining on the sidelines for the players. Games had more flow and felt quicker.

At the start of November, referee Paul Williams also gave water carriers the hurry-up to get off the park during the Boks’ 23-18 victory over Wales.

Referee Maxwell-Keys said: “I cannot stand the fact that they charge onto the pitch at every given opportunity. It then takes an age to get rid of them an age to re-start the game.”

The RFU’s guidelines for adult matches in England, at point 13.7.6, states: “No more than four water carriers per team (including medical staff and replacement players) are permitted within the pitch side or perimeter fencing or other barrier. Water carriers may only be permitted onto the playing area for the purposes of taking water to the players at such times as shall be approved by the referee (on any other occasion players must come to the touchline to get water).”

However, it is clear that the water-carriers do far more than simply take water to the players, they are on the pitch to deliver messages from coaches to the players on the field. They even motivate players when at the scrum.

The impact of this is that the game is taking longer, with far longer stoppages that could have a detrimental impact on the entertainment value of the game.

Scrummaging

Another topic discussed in the latest episode of The Rugby Paper Podcast was the issue of scrummaging in the game.

Regular The Rugby Paper columnist Nick Cain felt that the scrum has been “de-based over the last 20 years.”

Speaking to the podcast, he said: “The scrum is an intrinsic part of the game and it is a contest for the ball. It should be a contest for the ball. It should not just be a means for re-starting the game.

“I feel that the whole area of the scrum has been de-based over the last 20 years and we’re now living with the consequence of it.”

RFU referee Craig Maxwell-Keys feels that the lack of entertainment in scrummaging is a reason for this.

He said: “New fans coming to the game don’t understand the scrum – they want to be entertained. Ten minutes of scrummaging is not entertaining to the new breed of spectators.

“It contradicts where the game has come from traditionally. So, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place for how you find a satisfactory position.

“Coaches have a responsibility. If you know you are up against a good scrummaging team, you will do everything you can to make it as complicated to referee and as confusing a situation as possible.

“If you have two evenly matched teams coming together, it will either be a really good contest or they will try and undermine each other by lowering the standards. We as referees are left to pick up the pieces.

Issues at the scrum are not so prevalent at the grassroots level of the game compared to the elite level of the game where players are trying to gain the smallest advantage.

“My brother plays community rugby,” said Maxwell Keys.

“The scrum works at grassroots. I watch National One, National Two, National Three stuff – the scrums tend to work. The ball goes in and they have a good old pushing contest and the ball comes out.

“Only in the elite game where we get this game of chess and the shenanigans that goes on which then goes back to where the fault lies.

“The laws are the same in the community game. I’d like to think the referees aren’t necessarily as good as us. So, it goes down to the extra edge that the players and coaches give to it in the professional game. All that analysis that comes in to find those incremental gains that brings us (referees) into the game.”

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