Use it

[enby]

You know the situation. Team wins line out in their own half and truck it up for a phase or two and then the dreaded caterpillar yoke is elaborately formed. Ref shouts "use it" and the 9 then puts the kettle on, checks his emails and completes the crossword before putting his hands on the ball, scanning the pitch and finally launching box kick no. 73 of the day up. I don't think I have seen a ref all season penalise the kicker for going over the 5 seconds though I have heard at least 2 refs rebuke a player for loudly counting down from 5 to 1.

It is a blight on the game and ref assessors should give a fail mark to any ref that doesn't enforce this law of the game. World Rugby should also reduce it to 3 seconds and instruct the ref to count it down aloud.

[fourthirtythree]

You know the situation. Team wins line out in their own half and truck it up for a phase or two and then the dreaded caterpillar yoke is elaborately formed. Ref shouts "use it" and the 9 then puts the kettle on, checks his emails and completes the crossword before putting his hands on the ball, scanning the pitch and finally launching box kick no. 73 of the day up. I don't think I have seen a ref all season penalise the kicker for going over the 5 seconds though I have heard at least 2 refs rebuke a player for loudly counting down from 5 to 1.

It is a blight on the game and ref assessors should give a fail mark to any ref that doesn't enforce this law of the game. World Rugby should also reduce it to 3 seconds and instruct the ref to count it down aloud.

And rightly so. The ref is already counting and the opposition player interfering with that is just counting, they are not a clock, and they are inevitably wrong. Always.

The scrum half is usually right on the money.

[enby]

That's why I suggest that ref should count it down aloud.
I can't agree that 9s usually keep to the 5 seconds

[domhnallj]

At what point is the referee supposed to start their count to 5? It would speed things up if it were from when the ruck is formed, rather than from when the locks and assorted others amble into caterpillar position (at least it seems to me that this is the case).

[ronk]

At what point is the referee supposed to start their count to 5? It would speed things up if it were from when the ruck is formed, rather than from when the locks and assorted others amble into caterpillar position (at least it seems to me that this is the case).

From when the ball becomes available. But what happens is only shout use it when it becomes clear there's a delay, and the clock starts then.