latching

[Dickie E]

Blue ball carrier is tackled and goes to ground presenting the ball in the conventional manner.

Blue team mate is first at the breakdown and latches onto the tackled player in a strong and well shaped position - head up, head & shoulders above hips and weight clearly on own legs.

Red opponent attempts to clean out and would do so successfully apart from the fact that the Blue team mate has used the tackled player as an anchor to prevent being cleaned out.

Has Blue acted legally?

 

[didds]

frankly Id say no. But this appears to have been a standard and acceptable practise for a couple of decades now

didds

 

[Treadmore]

You could have pointed to tackle law 15.7(b) in 2017, but that has gone, and no one did anyway, as didds says.

 

[thepercy]

In the USA, yes. From our GMG

 

[L'irlandais]

Interesting the tackler’s responsibilities include :
[LAWS]14.5 e
Allow the tackled player to move away from the ball.[/LAWS]
Yet other players don’t have this listed as a responsibility. Odd since allowing the tackled player to roll away is a player safety issue. What good is it, the tackler releasing if the next man in binds him to the forcoming ruck?
Another not very well thought out/inadvertent Law change?

 

[Rich_NL]

Blue hasn't rolled away/been allowed to roll away, preventing red contesting the ball. I penalise this.

 

[Arabcheif]

Blue player is over the ball. As soon as red comes in, a ruck would be formed to contest the ball. No one is preventing this contest. Up the red to clear him out.

 

[ChrisR]

[LAWS]7. Tackled players must immediately :
a. Make the ball available so that play can continue by releasing, passing or pushing the ball in any direction except forward. They may place the ball in any direction.
b. Move away from the ball or get up.
c. Ensure that they do not lie on, over or near the ball to prevent opposition players from gaining possession of it.
Sanction : Penalty.[/LAWS]

If we allow players to violate Law 14.7, which we universally do, then why would you PK his support for "latching" and thus preventing him from obeying 14.7 (b)?

Sevens has this just right. Powerful counter-rucking teams (Fiji & Kenya) can win this contest when the latcher is a small player but won't challenge a strong player with a good grip. It's a fair contest even though it's not to the letter of the law.

 

[beckett50]

Blue ball carrier is tackled and goes to ground presenting the ball in the conventional manner.

Blue team mate is first at the breakdown and latches onto the tackled player in a strong and well shaped position - head up, head & shoulders above hips and weight clearly on own legs.

Red opponent attempts to clean out and would do so successfully apart from the fact that the Blue team mate has used the tackled player as an anchor to prevent being cleaned out.

Has Blue acted legally?

In short, YES! Under the strict working of the Law the Blue player is not fully supporting his own weight because his hands are gripped onto his team mate.

However, as Didd rightly says this has been common practice at the higher echelons over the years that it is often seen as acceptable - just like the squint feed at the scrum and the closing gaps at line out etc etc etc :deadhorse:

 

[Drift]

If he's on his feet and red can still try to counter ruck then play on.

 

[SimonSmith]

So they try to counter-ruck.
Get a good hit, but he isn't blown off his feet because he's holding onto the player on the ground.
Counter-ruck fails.

Still good?

 

[Not Kurt Weaver]

So they try to counter-ruck.
Get a good hit, but he isn't blown off his feet because he's holding onto the player on the ground.
Counter-ruck fails.

Still good?

Kinda like this clearout? that was later cited

https://twitter.com/i/status/1163169761917919237

 

[Dickie E]

Kinda like this clearout?

No, nothing like that. That clip is foul play.

 

[Dickie E]

So they try to counter-ruck.
Get a good hit, but he isn't blown off his feet because he's holding onto the player on the ground.
Counter-ruck fails.

Still good?

I guess I've got a bit of an equity issue with it. Red tackled player is off his feet so presumably out of the game but can still be an effective piece of ballast for a team mate. So isn't out of the game.

 

[didds]

However, as Didd rightly says this has been common practice at the higher echelons over the years that it is often seen as acceptable

although TBH its been seen in the community game almost as long IME, not that I am disagreeing with Becket's overall point

didds

 

[didds]

... and one counter to solid latching that was developed is the barrel/croc roll (other terms are available) which then in itelse brought legality issues - not to mention technical issues l;ike grabbing the chest and not the neck!
didds

 

[SimonSmith]

Our gator roll can only be performed on players with hands on the ball, so can't apply here.

 

[thepercy]

So they try to counter-ruck.
Get a good hit, but he isn't blown off his feet because he's holding onto the player on the ground.
Counter-ruck fails.

Still good?

Yes, he has survived the clear-out.

 

[thepercy]

Kinda like this clearout? that was later cited

https://twitter.com/i/status/1163169761917919237

This is a shoulder charge to the head.

 

[Rich_NL]

I misread... red push blue back, and the ball is dragged back by the blue anchor who is being pulled along the ground. PK. Anchoring in itself is often hard to judge C&O, and I try to manage.