Materiality - Introduction

In any match with a number of physical and technical contests,

there will be offences that the referee will regard as having a non-
material effect.
The difficulty with non-materiality is that the referee has to take
into consideration if a particular offence is non-material in the
context of:
The incident itself
The match as a whole (creating a permissive environment)
The game of rugby across all matches
Bearing this in mind, it is very important that when a referee
considers an offence to be non-material, that the referee observe
the following:
The referee acknowledges an offence has occurred
The offending player is made aware by the referee of the
infringement and the potential consequences of further
infringements.
 De Minimis

In a presentation on Materiality, Corris Thomas (IRB)

introduces De minimis
Object of the game is not
to score most points and never break the law
But
To win through fair play according to the laws.
Its the job of the referee to see that this happens In order to
keep the game moving, the referee has to decide what is and
what is not important.
de minimis non curat lex =
the law does not concern itself with trivialities
a principle of law that, even if a technical violation of the law
appears to exist according to the letter of the law, if the effect
is too small to be of consequence, the violation of the law will
not be considered as a sufficient cause for action .
 De Minimis Continued
This does not mean the omitting of any laws. All laws are
enforced but
Only when the circumstancesfor which those laws were
created actually happen.
2 requirements for a penalty award are:
a law has been broken
there has been an effect, ie
- one side has received an unfair advantage
- one side has been denied a fair advantage

Materiality has nothing to do with advantage

Advantage is a totally separate issue
Advantage says- a law has been broken, there has been an
effect, there should be a sanction
but there may be more benefit to the non offending team if play
carries on
De minimis says a law has been broken but - there has been no
effect and so the law has no application in the circumstances
 Play on

N
Has a
Law
been
broken?
Y

Make a mental note of the

player(s) involved and make them Do not whistle
aware at next available time.

Sometimes you may have to wait

a little to answer the question ie One side has received an
Has unfair advantage, OR
to see how play evolves. An
there One side has been
example would be that players
been an denied a fair advantage
have to take other options
effect?
because of the infringement.

Can an advantage A Law has been broken,

be gained? there HAS been an effect,
Apply advantage there should be a sanction,
processes as but there may be more
normal benefit to the non-offending
team if play continues
 Materiality Workshop

Learning Outcome
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to
Understand the principles of materiality
Delineate between advantage and NME (no material effect)
Appreciate the game management implications and actions required

Process
View each clip, discuss and note decisions
Max 3 minutes will be allowed per clip
View as the referee, not the RC, simulating real-time
Next clip
Time allowed after last clip to review findings

Report
Correct decision, or
Correct but query on advantage (no detailed explanation
required), or
NME, should have played on (reasons therefore)