Some questions regarding goal- and other lines. Pardon non-law language.
When a player has his foot on the 22 line he can kick the ball directly into touch and his side can gain ground because he is deemed to be kicking from within the 22.
Similarly, when he has his foot on his own goal-line, a moving ball kicked by an opponent, which has not yet passed the goal line, can be picked up by him and if he then grounds the ball in-goal his team is awarded a 22 drop out.
And so on.
So a defender on his own goal-line should not be pinged for offside if his back foot is on the goal line but his front foot isn't, and most of his body is over the plane.
Likewise a defender should not be pinged if his back foot is behind the ruck offside line, or on it, but the other one is in front of it.
Are these assumptions correct?
Whether a player should be involved with such risky practices is another matter.
Ruck offside line
When players are on their feet and in contact over the ball there is a ruck; the two offside lines are fairly clear.
But what if the players fall down, or only some of them do? Are the original offside lines still there, or are they moved to the last players standing on either side, or when everybody is down are there no offside lines because there is no ruck? ,
In other words: do defenders have to wait until either the ball is picked up, or it clears the last foot of a fallen player before they advance?
Offside line from a kick
A player chases a ball kicked by a team mate, takes it and "scores".
The TMO is asked to check if he was onside at the kick. Everything mentioned below is "clear and obvious". (Nice in theory).
Where does the offside line start exactly? Does it start from the point where the ball left the kicker's foot, or does it start slightly more back, from where his back foot was planted?
And where does the offside line meet the "try scorer." Is it enough for him to have his back foot behind the offside line or does his whole body have to be behind it?
Ball taken back in goal.
If a defender chases an opponent's kick, takes the bouncing ball then runs over his own goal-line and grounds it, it is a five-metre scrum for the attacking team.
But what if he reaches forward and takes the ball after it has passed the plane of the goal-line but his back foot was grounded, not in-goal, as he took it. Did he "take it back"?
And what if he caught the ball in his run and nether foot was on the ground at the time that he took it?
Does it matter where his back foot was when he took his last stride to catch the ball, or where his landing foot landed—or are these things irrelevant and it's only where the ball was in relation to the plane when he took it that matters?
.
When a player has his foot on the 22 line he can kick the ball directly into touch and his side can gain ground because he is deemed to be kicking from within the 22.
Similarly, when he has his foot on his own goal-line, a moving ball kicked by an opponent, which has not yet passed the goal line, can be picked up by him and if he then grounds the ball in-goal his team is awarded a 22 drop out.
And so on.
So a defender on his own goal-line should not be pinged for offside if his back foot is on the goal line but his front foot isn't, and most of his body is over the plane.
Likewise a defender should not be pinged if his back foot is behind the ruck offside line, or on it, but the other one is in front of it.
Are these assumptions correct?
Whether a player should be involved with such risky practices is another matter.
Ruck offside line
When players are on their feet and in contact over the ball there is a ruck; the two offside lines are fairly clear.
But what if the players fall down, or only some of them do? Are the original offside lines still there, or are they moved to the last players standing on either side, or when everybody is down are there no offside lines because there is no ruck? ,
In other words: do defenders have to wait until either the ball is picked up, or it clears the last foot of a fallen player before they advance?
Offside line from a kick
A player chases a ball kicked by a team mate, takes it and "scores".
The TMO is asked to check if he was onside at the kick. Everything mentioned below is "clear and obvious". (Nice in theory).
Where does the offside line start exactly? Does it start from the point where the ball left the kicker's foot, or does it start slightly more back, from where his back foot was planted?
And where does the offside line meet the "try scorer." Is it enough for him to have his back foot behind the offside line or does his whole body have to be behind it?
Ball taken back in goal.
If a defender chases an opponent's kick, takes the bouncing ball then runs over his own goal-line and grounds it, it is a five-metre scrum for the attacking team.
But what if he reaches forward and takes the ball after it has passed the plane of the goal-line but his back foot was grounded, not in-goal, as he took it. Did he "take it back"?
And what if he caught the ball in his run and nether foot was on the ground at the time that he took it?
Does it matter where his back foot was when he took his last stride to catch the ball, or where his landing foot landed—or are these things irrelevant and it's only where the ball was in relation to the plane when he took it that matters?
.
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