Has penalty advantage in rugby become too long? The law concerning halting play for a prior legal offence has become very confusing, as far as Owen Doyle is concerned. Essentially, there was a time where a significant line break or tactical advantage ensured advantage disappeared for an attacking side. Now, teams have free rein to play for as long as they like until a mistake comes with the permanent safety blanket of going back for a penalty. As Doyle points out: “Asked recently how long it should be, Nigel Owens smiled, “how long’s a piece of string?” Quite, and he is right – for obvious reasons it would be unwise to link it to time, or to a precise number of phases.” In this morning’s other rugby column, Gerry Thornley is looking at the c …