Am more confused by this than before :chin:
That reads like it is possible for Maul to turn into Ruck... I had previously been clear that didn't happen... Help?
Case 1. Maul forms, as the maul slows the team in possession force the ball down to ground. Just the ball, no player going to ground. We now have a ruck.
The conclusion is accurate, but Marauder has missed a few important stages in arriving at that conclusion. If we follow it through, we see first the application of Law 17.5, second bullet point, meaning that the maul has ended successfully:
[LAWS]17.5 SUCCESSFUL END TO A MAUL
A maul ends successfully when :
• the ball or a player with the ball leaves the maul
• the ball is on the ground
• the ball is on or over the goal line.[/LAWS]
So as soon as the ref concludes that we are no longer mauling, he needs to decide what mode of play we are now in. In doing so, he must look at Law 16.1 to see whether a ruck has formed, more or less instantaneously:
[LAWS](b) How can a ruck form. Players are on their feet. At least one player must be in physical contact with an opponent. The ball must be on the ground. If the ball is off the ground for any reason, the ruck is not formed.[/LAWS]
So in my view the maul has not become a ruck, but rather the maul has ended, as a result of which a ruck is taking place. A fine distinction, but an important one to get clear in your mind.
Case 2. At a tackle a defender gets hands on the ball and is then engaged by opponent. We have a ruck. Jackler picks up ball and teammate binds with him. We have a maul.
That is a vastly more controversial statement! The jackler is legally allowed to handle the ball in a ruck:
[LAWS]16.4(b) Players must not handle the ball in a ruck
except after a tackle if they are on their feet and have their hands on the ball before the ruck is formed.Sanction: Penalty kick[/LAWS]
There is nothing in ruck law to say that the ball may not be off the ground in a ruck. Before the very recent (2011?) amendment to 16.4, there was no legal way in which it could happen. Now that the jackler is legally entitled to handle the ball, and in so doing will almost inevitably lift the ball if the tackled player complies with his obligations, we have an uncertain situation. I look to the iRB's Clarification 3/2007 to find the conceptual approach to resolve that situation:
a) a ruck existed at one point.
b) that ruck must persist until it ends, either successfully or unsuccessfully
c) 16.6 tells us that a ruck ends successfully when the ball leaves the ruck, or is on or over the goal line. This has not happened.
d) 16.7 tells us that a ruck ends unsuccessfully when the ball becomes unplayable. This has not happened
e) consequently, the ruck persists, even though the ball is off the ground and being handled by the jackler
Unfortunately, anyone else from either team getting their mitts on the ball is then handling in the ruck - which is perhaps a rather difficult sell. Marauder's technically incorrect approach at least has the benefit of avoiding this difficulty, and is otherwise indistinguishable from a ruck - so it is to be recommended, though technically incorrect. I suggest that Law 16.6 could be improved by adding that a ruck can end successfully if the ball is legally lifted from the ground during the ruck.