I think that people are being rather charitable to the offside player , who places himself , illegally, between the oppo 9 and 10 but it's really not his fault that the pass happens to hit him .
I don't buy that . I think he got in the way of the pass intentionally and thus played all his opponent on side
I think he got in the way of the pass intentionally and thus played all his opponent on side
On a practical note, though, it begs the question of what is clear and obvious - the facts or the infringement.
For me, it's not obvious that he intentionally played the ball, but I couldn't say it was obviously unintentional (though on balance of probabilities I think it was unintentional).
So does that lack of obviousness that stop any offside being clear and obvious?
So you have now gone from Scrum to Play on?
The law for a player retiring from a ruck, maul, scrum or lineout is clear. If he interferes with play, the sanction is a PK.
There are many grey areas in the law, but this isn't one of them. Calling play on from this would lose you all credibility.
Scrum for accidental offside and warn the SH not to take the piss.
I'm sure if it was the last play of the match, and the attackers had a seven man overlap out left they'd consider accidental offside, scrum, final whistle more than equitable after all.
didds
Take it step by step. White is not offside by intent, he's offside because play passed him by and he is retiring to get back onside. It's not unreasonable for him to take the most direct route, even if it puts him momentarily between 9 and 10. Is he making haste or loitering? That is certainly material and is a referees judgement call.
Does he move to play the ball? No, nor does he drop to the ground as didds would suggest. What would you expect him to do? What does the law expect him to do?
So, for me that's accidental offside. Does he gain from it? Yes, he does as it stopped the ball from reaching the target so I now take back the "Play on" and should be playing Blue scrum advantage. Offside Blue killed that when he played the ball. If Blue 9 had played the ball instead and scored then I'd say the score stands.
So, it all boils down to offside players retiring and what are their responsibilities.
And, as I posted previously, if they hustle back, don't make a play for the ball then it's up to the 9 to time his pass to get the ball to the target. Accidental offside, no advantage, Blue scrum.
Its very simple... don't want to get PKd for lazy running, don't get in the channel. If that means laying on the floor
until play has moved on, so be it.
didds
This.
I often hear referees talking to players on the wrong side of a ruck/tackle saying "wait there" or "stay there" when they can see the ball is about to emerge or be picked up by the SH.
I also subscribe to the view that nothing players do on the pitch in pro-rugby is by accident. Getting in the way of a pass is something players do intentionally to minutely slow down the opposition's quick ball... every little bit helps.
In this case, the player may not have actually touched the ball intentionally, but he was making no effort to keep out of the way.