22 drop out/scrum/something else entirely...

[RobLev]

It does.
Discussed this late last year after SArefs got clarification from IRB re DBL to be treated the same as touch-in-goal line.

For the specific case of scoring a try by standing in TiG (or, by the clarification, beyond the DBL) and putting downward pressure on a ball in in-goal, under 22.4(g), being beyond the DBL is treated the same as being in touch-in-goal:

http://www.sareferees.com/News/deadball-as-for-touchingoal/2830205/

It doesn't seem to be generalisable.

 

[RobLev]

For the specific case of scoring a try by standing in TiG (or, by the clarification, beyond the DBL) and putting downward pressure on a ball in in-goal, under 22.4(g), being beyond the DBL is treated the same as being in touch-in-goal:

http://www.sareferees.com/News/deadball-as-for-touchingoal/2830205/

It doesn't seem to be generalisable.

Incorrect to this extent - "touch-in-goal" should read "touch or touch-in-goal".

 

[ChrisR]

So you agree that an attacking player CAN straddle the DBL and tap the ball back before it crosses the vertical plane of touch.

I've been thinking about that. Should the DBL have the same properties at TiG and touch line? If so, then I agree with you, Taff.

 

[RobLev]

I've been thinking about that. Should the DBL have the same properties at TiG and touch line? If so, then I agree with you, Taff.

Law 19 (Touch and Lineout) includes both a paragraph equating to 22.11(a) (not (d) - oops):

[LAWS]The ball is in touch when it is not being carried by a player and it touches the touchline or anything or anyone on or beyond the touchline.[/LAWS]

and also a further paragraph dealing with the specific point Taff makes:

[LAWS]A player in touch may kick or knock the ball, but not hold it, provided it has not crossed the plane of the touchline. The plane of the touchline is the vertical space rising immediately above the touchline.[/LAWS]

Law 22 includes (as 22.11(a)) the first quoted paragraph from Law 19; but not the second. That, with the various detailed provisions about what a player can do from TiG or beyond the DBL, seems to rule out reading the second quoted paragraph from Law 19 into Law 22.