I think the business of stepping backwards is only applicable when there is a defender lying immediately in front of the attacker and rather than take a big stride over them or putting the ball on top of them like has been happening, they just need to move a foot or so backwards to create enough room to put the ball on the floor (like players used to when they were a bit more grown up). Even then I think when defenders are doing this deliberately they will still be penalised. In essence I think refs are being told to use their common sense (like any of us watching have for months) and judgement rather than allowing this cheating to take place
Spot on, it's totally different. In this case a player is impeding the player scooting from the ptb. Simply a case of the attack being quicker and smarter than the defence. Completely different to the scheming cheating of throwing the ball at a grounded player who is having no affect on the ptb.
My interpretation of these new rules are a supplement to the existing rules and not a replacement of.
The worst cases of what is wrong with the interpretation/rigidity of the existing rules is
When a player steps over another player to play the ball - moving off the mark and gaining an advantage by leaving a player in the ruck - the new rules attempt to explain what will happen in that case
When a player is deliberately held down in a ruck , putting them in a position that is now possibly penalise and then deliberately playing the ball into the player in a manner that is designed only to get a penalty - the new rules attempt to explain what will happen in that case
When a player lying in the ruck has a ball deliberately thrown against them to gain a penalty - the new rules attempt to explain what will happen in that case (although I thought this was made illegal last year)
Its made pretty clear - if you stand up and the player is still under your feet then stand back and play the ball, in a balanced manner as you would in a play the ball without any interference.
If you stand up and there is nobody under your feet then play the ball, in a balanced manner as you would in a play the ball without any interference.
If a player is in the ruck and prevents the dummy half from picking up the ball cleanly or is hit by a ball when using a standard play the ball action then it is a penalty (as it always has been)
Don't forcibly play the ball deliberately into a player who is in the ruck.
This has had to be brought about because players are taking the when playing the ball - its not the fault of the player in the ruck.
the only thing I can see different to rules as they have always been used (and still are in Australia) is the standing back part. In other words its now the player who plays the ball who has the responsibility to have a clear patch of ground to put the ball down onto
#31 is absolutely spot on , the play the ball in this country is a joke .
roy litherland it's happened i told you it would
It'll be interesting to see how it's implemented for the first time tonight, given that Wigan are the masters at it
"The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." Danny Blanchflower.
Might have been written by a footballer about football - but never a truer word............