[Law] Kick near goal line, charged down.

[crossref]

What Menace says is how it is applied universally as far as I can determine.

It's how it's always been done.

Old Law Book

When an attacking player sends or carries the ball into the opponents’ in-goal and it beecomes dead there, either because a defender grounded it or because it went into touch-
in-goal or on or over the dead ball line, a drop-out is awarded.

Current Law Book
[LAWS]Apart from at a kick-off or restart kick, if the ball is played or taken into in-goal by an
attacking player and is made dead by an opponent, play is restarted with a 22-metre
drop-out [/LAWS]

[LAWS]Played: The ball is played when it is intentionally touched by a player. [/LAWS]

 

[didds]

so who here would award a 5m scrum for a red defender's kick in red 22 that hits a blue player in the back as he stands up from a ruck and the ball bounces into in goal and then over the DBL ?

didds

 

[crossref]

so who here would award a 5m scrum for a red defender's kick in red 22 that hits a blue player in the back as he stands up from a ruck and the ball bounces into in goal and then over the DBL ?

didds

In practice we'd all award a 22m DO , I am sure.

And fortunately for us, if we look for a Law to justify a 5m scrum, that doesn't apply either

[LAWS]Action : The ball is taken into in goal by the defending team and made dead.
Location of scrum : In the scrum zone at the point closest to where the ball was made dead.
Who trows in : The attacking team.[/LAWS]

In your scenario no one took the ball in to the in goal, it just ended up there
And no one made it dead either, for that matter. It ended up dead