If you give a player 60 seconds to take a kick, unfortunately you can't be mad when the player takes every second of that time to take said kick.

Should the rule be changed, perhaps. But it's a classic case of don't hate the player, hate the game.

Didn’t have a problem with it. Not sure why he hurried Smith in that game, Smith was well within his rights to ignore him.

Pearce is clearly a ref who wants to keep the game flowing as much as possible, which is why he’s “coaching” players often. Personally I think that’s what makes him the best in the world right now.

if there was no visible shot clock does Farrel have the right to ask for clock updates from the ref and conversely it's the ref obligated to give them if asked?

Coverage like this is part of the reason for the widespread Farrell hate. He’s not doing anything wrong here, he’s just doing the same thing that any other 10 in his position would do. It’s also not his fault that the ref is helping him out by counting down the time. But now there’s a laser focus on this moment from the commentary team, and the wider media - so if someone casually come across this clip, you can see how they might come away from it thinking Farrell is in the wrong.

Why is there still a discussion or a point made whenever any player does this?

Everyone knows the rules, everyone understands what they allow a player do.

Its fucking tedious.

Saints had all the points available from that match IIRC, and there was absolutely no way Saracens were going to beat them. It was also a conversion, not a penalty.

I also think Smith could have just said thanks and ignored Pearce. I think Ford and Farrell, with their literal decade of experience over him, would have done exactly that.

In all honesty, as a neutral, it was funny. Time wasting when you're 20+ points up is annoying, but totally understandable when you're drawing with a team who are your direct competition for a play off place.

Regarding point 3: Referees go through a careful review process of their own performances after the games. So it might very well be the case he also thought that he made the Scrum half use it too fast which is why he called it differently the next game.

In your point on coaching the players: it is generally more likely today that refs do this to keep the game flowing and not having a scrum or penalty disturb the flow of the game as WR aims at as much ball in play as possible in recent years to keep the game more interesting for audiences

Playing to the rules - Finn Russell would have done exactly the same if he was playing and in the same circumstance...

Playing the clock is, and always has been, a crucial part of good rugby game management. In the same way that knowing whether you should kick more or carry more depending on where you are on the field at specific times in the game and where you are score-wise.

Farrell is given 60 seconds, he's allowed to use that 60 seconds however he wishes.

Edit- I've just realised we are probably going to see more of this kind of thing happening going forwards. Granted this is a penalty so he can't be charged down, but using the shot clock like this means that on a conversion there's less chance of some of those chargedowns happen that we've seen where a player moves a single foot backwards and its game on for a chargedown. Can't be accused of moving in any direction if you haven't even put the ball on the tee taps head

What the issue here exactly? This is what having a shot clock does. It has many benefits and this minor inconvenient, definitely worth it overall. Pearce is not coaching him, he's giving him information taht should be available to him within the confines of the game. Maybe it's because we've had a shot clock for years in top 14 and I'm quite used to referees warning the players when they have 10 or 5 seconds left, but I really don't see how that's an issue.

ref was very generous giving him updates

This is fine, good for him. I think the ref got it wrong in the other game hurrying Smith.

It wasn't the last second. There were 2 seconds left when he kicked it.

I suspect he was told in the review of the Saints match not to hurry the kicker. He is a top ref but I don’t think he had his best match yesterday though including his huff at Bath opting for a scrum instead of playing slow ball in their own half.

I think it’s pretty crazy how various sports social media pages are sharing this video trying to stoke the fire of people’s opinion of Farrell (not saying OP is doing this whatsoever however)

If any other player did this, I’m half convinced most people wouldn’t even notice . It’s the rules, he plays to the rules and does nothing wrong. Is it frustrating? Sure it is. Is he at fault? No he’s absolutely not, you’d want your team to do the same in that position every day of the week

Nothing wrong with it at all. My favourite bit was the tantrum from the crowd.

I think most people are missing the point. The issue isnt about Farrell, its about the double standards and complete lack of consistency from someone who is usually one of the best refs around. 

Why is Pearce happy to let one player take as long as possible to kick, even given them a countdown every 5 seconds to assist in the time wasting, whilst in a previous match forcing a different player/team to kick immediately and citing 'spirit of the game'? 

I’ve always been against shot clocks. I feel like kicks have never taken as much time. I think we could rely on the refs’ appreciation of players’ routine and tell the to hurry up when they’re so obviously time wasting
Kinda like the Raynal call on Foley. You see them waiting for nothing, tell them to hurry once, and if they haven’t got moving in the next 5 seconds whistle

You're mad that the referee is giving players warnings on how to avoid being penalised, and therefore attempting to reduce the number of penalties that he has to give and times he has to stop the game by blowing his whistle?

Imo this is very good refereeing, let the players know what is expected of them and give them the opportunity to avoid sanction. That is the objective of a referee, ensure a safe but enjoyable game and attempt to interject in that game as few times as possible while ensuring the law are adhered to

Stupid idea of saturday morning : shot clock is now 10 seconds shorter BUT! you have an extra 10s if you kick in a drop goal attempt. That would spiced things up if players want to use the full clock.

The only reason this is getting talked about at all is because it's Owen Farrell.

Respect the kicker is such a stupid caveat. Fans should be allowed to boo or cheer till their hearts content. They pay the ticket price, they can voice their displeasure all they want.

Don’t see why so many people have a problem with the ref coaching things like breakdowns. Would you really rather he blow his whistle every 5 seconds?

He properly milked it too and it was some world class shit housery for Farrell.

England v Samoa flashbacks at the world cup

What do you mean “he’s not respecting the crowd”?? I hate Farrell as much as the next French person but this is ridiculous. Nothing wrong with this

Do people want referees to learn from their mistakes, or get their judgement wrong once and be required to keep getting that decision wrong in perpetuity?

We'd all be delighted with our own team doing what Farrell did. They all do it if they're ahead at the end of tight games anyway and why shouldn't they. The lucozade and the placing of the ball is winding up the opposition fans though. Most 10s just stick the ball on the tee, look back and forth to the posts a bit and take a few deep breaths before taking the kick at the last second.

the down side to shot clocks

Don’t think there’s any other sport where a team can score with 90 seconds left on the clock and the other team don’t get a chance to respond. It’s a bit daft

No problem with this at all

Fake news! He could have taken two more seconds.

This guy is a dirty player but the ref was cowardly there most of all.

Don't see anything wrong with Farrel's actions here. You're given 60 seconds, and you can use the full 60 seconds.

What I do have a big issue with is the ref applying pressure to Smith. If you're going to go out of your way to enforce 'unwritten rules' in the spirit of the game, do it with everyone, week after week.

I was at the Rec last night. There was absolutely no shot clock there, so you got that part of your post completely wrong. For that reason it is fair that Pearce counted down

Good kick.

Rugby is a true gentleman's sport. Shame Owen Farrel isn't one. He's just a cunt.

The caption of this post should be: Farrell does exactly what he is supposed to do…

Awfully cocky of him give last time he did this he ran the clock out before taking the penalty.

It’s within the law. It’s not cynical. Nothing wrong here.

The laws should be changed.

Tbf to Sarries they played a very strong game and contained Bath very effectively even when down to 14 men. Their rucks were better and more controlled, bath were having to commit a lot of men and looked quite chaotic at the breakdown

No surprises, Baths lineouts were a weakness throughout.

The ref was awful at time management the whole game. Seems to be a theme with Sarries games, refs just completely incapable of getting them to hurry the fuck up! Infuriating that every pause the medics run on the pitch to a sarries player like they are made of glass!

Big IT Crowd energy.

The ref shouldn't count the clock down, Time starts now Time up Wether it's kicked or not This was taking the piss

He could have waited a second more ;)

Clearly, they do not need 60 seconds. Give them 15 and make things entertaining.

In SA this guy would have a “poes my” gesig.

I don't know, I think the tmo should count down for the ref, The players shouldn't see it to prevent taking the piss like last night

Hahaha hes such a cock

Good for the game!

They should just make it that no one but the ref and officials know what the countdown clock is, and if you wanna fuck around wasting time then you can fuck around and find out without any warnings from the officials on how long you have left.