Mallia's charge on D Williams

[didds]

One thing's for sure...

In a fortnight this will all be forgotten about generally speaking, including here.
And at some time, sooner rather than later, we'll have another jumping player crashing into a static, unmoved defender and we'll have the same discussion all over again.

That's not a dig at anybody here - buit illustrates that its a problem of WR's making and they dont seem capable, or interested, or both, in addressing it.

 

[shebeen]

One thing's for sure... In a fortnight this will all be forgotten about generally speaking, including here. And at some time, sooner rather than later, we'll have another jumping player crashing into a static, unmoved defender and we'll have the same discussion all over again. That's not a dig at anybody here - buit illustrates that its a problem of WR's making and they dont seem capable, or interested, or both, in addressing it.

not totally, for a start there's a player under concussion recovery and a world cup squad that might/might not include him being announced tomorrow.

As soon as this happened, the Stander/Lambie incident came up.
but I guess the point being made that it's forgotten by the people who can make a difference is relevant.

 

[Ian_Cook]

Get what you are proposing @Ian_Cook and this has been one of my areas of concern for a long while so likely I'm stuck on the same record as you, but why would the landing space remain empty?
Why shouldn't the opposition compete at the point where the ball lands?

But the expectation should be that someone else will be there to compete, its rugby we want people to challenge and compete, so assuming clear ground gives the kicker free reign is still to my mind flawed.

The focus needs to be on the safety of players on the ground preparing to catch the ball, or in this case kicking, and has to provide protection from players that recklessly jump laterally at high speed.

Firstly, it probably won't remain empty, but remember this would apply to different types of kicks...
1. the down field clearance and chase
2. The midfield bomb
3. The attacking bomb to land on or near the goal line
4. The 28 metre kick
5. The chip over the defense

- In the case of 1 and 2, and maybe 3, the defender will likely (but not always) get to where the ball is going to land first, in which case, he owns that space, and the attacking player/chaser must not jump to compete for the ball - if he does, and he clatters the stationary defender, he gets penalized. Instead, he will have to try to time his run to tackle the catcher as he catches or comes down with the ball... like this...

Ashley-Cooper judges perfectly where the ball will come down and gets their. Under my suggested Law, he now owns that space and Kahui would no longer be allowed to jump to compete, so instead he adjusts his run to tackle Ashley-Cooper as the ball arrives.

In the case of 4 and 5, it will depend on how high and how well executed the kick is. Its likely that no-one can get to the landing point to own the space, so jumping to compete will still be OK, and the first person to jump gets to own the space where he is goping to land. Other players have to stay away, but may tackle that player the moment he lands.