Rucking kicks

Something a bit different.

One area of the game where I think was that legal or should it be legal is when you have a ruck situation and the big boot comes out and the ball is kicked away. I have no problem if the ball is out but often it's very questionable if the player is entitled to do it and extremely difficult for the ref to be able to adjudicate if the player is entitled to do it.

Would you like to see the kick at a ruck to be outlawed? Or do you think it's a legitimate tactic to spoil or turnover possession?

You can kick it. If you not offside. Plenty of times players roll or lean round the side of the ruck and kick the ball sideways. That should penalised as offside. Being able to kick it at all forces teams to commit players, which makes more room out wide.

Really interesting one! If the defending side can get a foot to the ball - are on their feet and not in an off-side position then I would say yes. The side with possession should be able to use it before the boot comes in, if they don't - tough. Should have used it when you had the chance....but...

If it's just spoiling possession - kicking it out of the scrum half's hands for example, surely not. Also the last thing you want is a pile of bodies with people swinging their feet in the hopes of catching the ball...

Hmmm.

On balance - for me - no then.

I think.  

 It's probably one of the very few times where kicking the ball away to the opposition is to your advantage

HammerofThunor wrote:You can kick it. If you not offside. Plenty of times players roll or lean round the side of the ruck and kick the ball sideways. That should penalised as offside. Being able to kick it at all forces teams to commit players, which makes more room out wide.

Is that true, Thunor, even if they are still 'bound'?

The problem is Hammer is that it's very difficult to tell in a bundle of bodies whether the kick was made from an onside position. If the ball is out and the player comes from behind and kicks the ball away then fair play. If it's the tackling player and a ruck hasn't been called, then that's fair enough too. But all too often I see a ruck called, and then the ball comes out and it's highly questionable whether it was legally done and the ref lets it go. Sometimes it's too tempting or too effective as a tactic not to give it a go. Perhaps if the act was outlawed then we wouldn't see this scenario happen so much or at least a penalty would be given.

Does that though give too much of an advantage to the side with possession and make it that little bit more difficult to compete for the ball?

I think it should be allowed. I think rugby needs competition at the breakdown. The less competition the more the game resembles rugby league which is not a good thing. Turn overs create a lot of tries so keep it I say.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

HammerofThunor wrote:You can kick it. If you not offside. Plenty of times players roll or lean round the side of the ruck and kick the ball sideways. That should penalised as offside. Being able to kick it at all forces teams to commit players, which makes more room out wide.

Is that true, Thunor, even if they are still 'bound'?

Which bit?

The 'if a player remains bound in the ruck, but puts his leg around the outside of the ruck to kick the ball' bit - I would say that was within the laws. Not keen on it, but ok

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:The 'if a player remains bound in the ruck, but puts his leg around the outside of the ruck to kick the ball' bit - I would say that was within the laws. Not keen on it, but ok

 I meant roll round the side of the ruck. Kind of shuffling forward, round the ruck rather than through it.