which everyone bought without question.
.... and if they didn't they'd be 10m toward their own goal. Just because there is not a howl of protest doesn't mean you got it right. Rather, it means that these kids have been well coached to respect your decision, right or wrong.
It simply looked wrong and I gave a penalty
If you don't know, don't blow. Read the definitions of Law 14. There is no prohibition for gathering the ball but there is a requirement to act immediately afterwards.
Browner, your extrapolations are beyond reason, again.
So if the ball lands on the LoT and sticks in the mud, the lineout player can pick it up from a standing position; but he can't make an attempt to catch it on the way down if that involves putting a knee down? I've been accused in the past of being pedantic and lacking empathy...
I think you're both being a bit harsh on browner for his perceived extrapolation. If they weren't meant to stand in the lineout then perhaps why did the law lords write 'stand' at all in that part?I have some sympathy as to why Browner may interpret that to mean the lineout players literally must stand up at all times.
Browner could equally accuse you of extrapolating law 14 beyond its realm. Its definition specifically says "ball available
ON THE ground
AND player goes
to ground to gather the ball" - so technically both conditions need to be true before before law 14 is enacted. In the OP only one condition is true, and that is the player has gone to ground, the ball was not on it. One could argue that law 14 is not in play here.
So by induction you're extrapolating law 14 beyond its meaning just as much as Browner may be in his interpretation.
It's not his fault as it is not yours that you're trying to make the best of poorly written laws.
Having said that, my inclination would have been to allow play on if I thought going to one knee was in reaction to catching the ball because it wasn't going to reach, but perhaps if I saw it as a planned move and the player went to his knee in advance of the throw then I'd be inclined to just reset it and ask the lineout player to remain on his feet.