Dropped goal touched.... still 'successful'?

[Mickman]

Hello all,

Just starting out in the officiating ranks but can't ever remember seeing a drop goal being touched (by opponent) and being 'successful'.

So my question is -

Drop goal attempt (red) touched by opponent (blue) but is 'successful', is this a drop goal? resulting in 3 points awarded to kickers' team (red) or disallowed and play on?

Cheers

 

[ckuxmann]

Score stands

9A2a
If after the ball is kicked, it touches the ground or any team-mate of the kicker, a goal
cannot be scored.

This means that a defensive player is not covered so therefore it stands.

 

[Mickman]

Thank you, thought as much

 

[Drift]

It's actually covered in the LoTG book as well somewhere, can't remember off the top of my head but I can remember reading it

 

[Dickie E]

Had a game a few years ago where a conversion attempt was made. Defending team had been given a spare ball by ball boy ready to use for kick off.

Conversion attempt was poor and ball never got more than 6 feet off ground. However, as defenders trotted out, the player with the spare ball used it to strike the ball in flight.

Now, 2 balls striking each other have a springboard effect. Suffice to say the kicked ball now sailed cleanly over the crossbar.

Was the kick successful?

 

[Taff]

... Conversion attempt .. never got more than 6 feet off ground. ... as defenders trotted out, the player with the spare ball used it to strike the ball in flight. ... Suffice to say the kicked ball now sailed cleanly over the crossbar. Was the kick successful?

I vote yes.

 

[Jenko]

Goal stands

9.A.2 (c)

If an opponent commits an offence as the kick at goal is being taken, but neverthless the kick is successful, advantage is played and the score stands.

 

[Simon Thomas]

and bollocking from Dickie for defender who threw the spare ball I assume ?

 

[Mickman]

Let the goal stand...

And depends on the intention/ type of action by the opposing player with the spare ball (e.g foul play and/or stupidity in his team mates eyes), as to further action on your part - whether ball was thrown to prevent conversion :noyc: or merely used to strike while still held :chin: (since the ball never got more than 6 feet off the ground) - would you differentiate these 2 actions??

 

[OB..]

I think it was some time in the 60s that the law was changed so that an opponent touching the ball did not prevent a goal.

On the opening Saturday of the season our 3rd XV full back took a kick at goal. Two opposing props were 10 yards in front with their backs to him. He hit one of them square between the shoulder blades, and the ball flew over the bar. According to one of the rugby papers, that was the only use of the new law in the whole country that day.

 

[The Fat]

As one of those purely academic discussions that various posters love to have on here from time to time, what if after red team awarded a FK they take a tap-kick restart, pass the ball one or two places along the line and fly-half has a brain fade and attempts a drop-goal. Blue player attempting to charge down the kick gets a hand to the ball but it still sails over the crossbar. Goal or no goal and why?

 

[OB..]

Law 21.6 (b) "The team awarded a free kick cannot score a dropped goal [...] until after an opponent has touched or played it [...]"

He attempted the drop goal before an opponent had touched the ball, so for me it is no goal.

We can fiddle around with arguing that there is nothing to prevent him attempting a goal, but it all gets rather silly IMHO.

 

[Dixie]

Defending team had been given a spare ball by ball boy ready to use for kick off. ... ball never got more than 6 feet off ground. However, as defenders trotted out, the player with the spare ball used it to strike the ball in flight. ... the kicked ball now sailed cleanly over the crossbar.

Was the kick successful?

Just to throw in a slight curve: Law 2.6:

Spare balls may be available, but a team must not gain ... an unfair advantage by using them.

Would the intent of this suggest that Dickie's 6 foot high conversion attempt should fail?

 

[Rit Hinners]

I think not Dixie.

That would not be an example of the team using the spare ball gaining an advantage. That is one of the team using the spare ball giving away an advantage.

An example of the team using a spare ball to gain and advantage might be the trick France tried and got away with in the 87 World Cup final.

France was awarded a drop out and two balls ended up on the field. In an attempt to rectify the situation, both balls were "mistakenly" thrown off. Blanco, running near the 22 called for a ball. The ball was thrown to and caught by Blanco at a position about 6" off the ground and 1' from the line, the perfect position for a tap drop kick over the line against an AB team that had no previous indication of where the ball was or which ball was to be played.

It looked too choriographed to be coincidental to me.