Reaching Over in the Maul

[beckett50]

Exactly. Players in the maul can be "caught in" I think the wording is, rather than bind onto the maul itself.

If EVERY player in the maul had to be bound in, then the BC himself couldn't legally be part of the maul because he's too busy trying to keep possession of the ball.

Sorry gents, but I think thread is in danger of confusing the hell out of a Ref starting out.

Law 16.10 All players in a Maul must be caught in or bound to it and not just alongside it

Remember that the Laws define a bind as

[FONT=fs_blakeregular]Grasping another player’s body firmly between the shoulders and the hips with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder.[/FONT]

so the man at the back can be the ball carrier as long as one arm is bound to the shoulder (as per the #8 at a scrum)

 

[beckett50]

This may help explain the 'Long Reach'

https://laws.worldrugby.org/?domain=9&guideline=9