Rugby League laws.

[Simon147]

I'm quite new to watching Rugby League and a bit unsure on some of the laws, when the ball is kicked to touch during general play how does it restart, is it a scrum or play the ball, can someone explain what happens when it's kicked out on that full, when it bounces in the field before going out into touch, and also how play is restarted if it's kicked on the 5th tackle. Also how is play restarted when a player is tackled into touch?

 

Hope that all makes sense. Thanks.

[Dave T]

11 minutes ago, Simon147 said:

I'm quite new to watching Rugby League and a bit unsure on some of the laws, when the ball is kicked to touch during general play how does it restart, is it a scrum or play the ball, can someone explain what happens when it's kicked out on that full, when it bounces in the field before going out into touch, and also how play is restarted if it's kicked on the 5th tackle. Also how is play restarted when a player is tackled into touch?

 

Hope that all makes sense. Thanks.

A couple of years ago,  anyone could answer this question really easily. 

Now,  I'm not sure I could answer this correctly. There seems to be an almost random selection of restarts,  including scrums,  tap restarts,  all from different positions across the field. 

[Griff]

I just see what the ref says these days ...........

You're right, though, it is different on the last tackle.

[Dunbar]

5 hours ago, Simon147 said:

I'm quite new to watching Rugby League and a bit unsure on some of the laws, when the ball is kicked to touch during general play how does it restart, is it a scrum or play the ball, can someone explain what happens when it's kicked out on that full, when it bounces in the field before going out into touch, and also how play is restarted if it's kicked on the 5th tackle. Also how is play restarted when a player is tackled into touch?

 

Hope that all makes sense. Thanks.

As far as I know.

Unless it is a 40-20 or 20-40 kick, if a ball is kicked and bounces into touch it is a lateral handover and the team who didn't kick can choose to have it on the 10m, 20m or the middle of the field.

If the ball is kicked out on the full over the sideline it is a handover from the point the ball was kicked.  A ball kicked out on the full over the dead ball line will be a 20m restart with a zero tackle.

All of the above are the same whatever tackle the ball is kicked on.

I believe that if a player is legitimately tackled into touch this also results in a lateral handover (although it may be 20m in from the touchline where the tackle occurred on that one).

[bobbruce]

5 hours ago, Simon147 said:

I'm quite new to watching Rugby League and a bit unsure on some of the laws, when the ball is kicked to touch during general play how does it restart, is it a scrum or play the ball, can someone explain what happens when it's kicked out on that full, when it bounces in the field before going out into touch, and also how play is restarted if it's kicked on the 5th tackle. Also how is play restarted when a player is tackled into touch?

 

Hope that all makes sense. Thanks.

I’ll have a stab at it but like other people have said it’s changed so much recently. 
 

if it’s kicked to touch on the bounce it’s a scrum (opposition head)where it enters touch. If it goes out on the full it’s a scrum (opposition head) from where it was kicked. This is all providing it wasn’t played at or touched by the opposition. Unless it’s on the last tackle when it will be a ptb to the opposition. There are also 20-40s and 40-20s which if achieved give the kicking team a tap where it entered touch. Tackled into touch is the same scrum to opposition at point of entry. The confusion come from scrum recently being taken out of the game for covid and hardly anyones sure which ones are back. I’m sure someone will correct me if some of this is wrong. 

[Dave T]

37 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

... if a ball is kicked and bounces into touch it is a lateral handover... 

 

32 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

 

... if it’s kicked to touch on the bounce it’s a scrum (opposition head)where it enters touch....

Great job lads.  This is why I stayed out of it 

[Dunbar]

5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

 

Great job lads.  This is why I stayed out of it 

Not my fault Bob's still living in the 1980's

[Simon147]

1 hour ago, bobbruce said:

I’ll have a stab at it but like other people have said it’s changed so much recently. 
 

if it’s kicked to touch on the bounce it’s a scrum (opposition head)where it enters touch. If it goes out on the full it’s a scrum (opposition head) from where it was kicked. This is all providing it wasn’t played at or touched by the opposition. Unless it’s on the last tackle when it will be a ptb to the opposition. There are also 20-40s and 40-20s which if achieved give the kicking team a tap where it entered touch. Tackled into touch is the same scrum to opposition at point of entry. The confusion come from scrum recently being taken out of the game for covid and hardly anyones sure which ones are back. I’m sure someone will correct me if some of this is wrong. 

Thanks so much for explaining, I think I understand now, I certainly have a much better understanding anyway. Can I just ask, is it a ptb to the opposition for both going out on the bounce and on the full if it happens on the last tackle?

[bobbruce]

43 minutes ago, Simon147 said:

Thanks so much for explaining, I think I understand now, I certainly have a much better understanding anyway. Can I just ask, is it a ptb to the opposition for both going out on the bounce and on the full if it happens on the last tackle?

Sorry Simon I think that’s wrong check Dunbar post. Scrums have been replaced with ptbs. 

[Chris22]

1 hour ago, Simon147 said:

Thanks so much for explaining, I think I understand now, I certainly have a much better understanding anyway. Can I just ask, is it a ptb to the opposition for both going out on the bounce and on the full if it happens on the last tackle?

If the ball goes out on the full, then the restart takes place from where the ball is kicked. If the ball goes out on the bounce, then the restart takes place where the ball entered touch. The opponent (i.e non-kicking side) will take the restart.

That is unless it is a '40-20' kick, where a ball is kicked from behind the 40 metre mark in your own half and leaves play, on the bounce, with between the opponent's 20 metre line and cornerflag. Or, indeed, a '20-40' kick, which is rare, but where you kick from behind your own 20 metre mark and the ball leaves play on the bounce, within 40 metres of the opponent's tryline. In these circumstances, play with resume by 'tapping' the ball, once the referee gives the mark, taken by the side who made the kick.

I'm not sure when a scrum occurs after a regulation kick, or when a 'lateral restart' occurs (i.e. a play the ball) despite being a committed follower of the sport. That says something of the unnecessary complexity of our laws.

 

[Dunbar]

31 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Scrums have been replaced with ptbs. 

Till next week anyway.

[Angelic Cynic]

When regular,match-attending supporters have a very narrow understanding of the laws of the sport,and an even narrower understanding of the interpretation of the laws/rules,it is understandable when wealthy individuals,and sponsors,are in short supply.

It is a matter for IMG to address the laws of the games and disseminate the information to those attending the games.

If people don't understand - they won't attend.Not when the drunks and idiots are in attendance. 

[Simon147]

2 hours ago, Chris22 said:

If the ball goes out on the full, then the restart takes place from where the ball is kicked. If the ball goes out on the bounce, then the restart takes place where the ball entered touch. The opponent (i.e non-kicking side) will take the restart.

That is unless it is a '40-20' kick, where a ball is kicked from behind the 40 metre mark in your own half and leaves play, on the bounce, with between the opponent's 20 metre line and cornerflag. Or, indeed, a '20-40' kick, which is rare, but where you kick from behind your own 20 metre mark and the ball leaves play on the bounce, within 40 metres of the opponent's tryline. In these circumstances, play with resume by 'tapping' the ball, once the referee gives the mark, taken by the side who made the kick.

I'm not sure when a scrum occurs after a regulation kick, or when a 'lateral restart' occurs (i.e. a play the ball) despite being a committed follower of the sport. That says something of the unnecessary complexity of our laws.

 

Thanks, I think I get it now

I'll keep watching and find my way eventually, it's not easy as you said it's very complex but I will say though it is a lot easier than Union to understand and better to watch, in my opinion anyway.

 

Thank you to everyone who replied to help.

[Simon147]

4 hours ago, Dunbar said:

As far as I know.

Unless it is a 40-20 or 20-40 kick, if a ball is kicked and bounces into touch it is a lateral handover and the team who didn't kick can choose to have it on the 10m, 20m or the middle of the field.

If the ball is kicked out on the full over the sideline it is a handover from the point the ball was kicked.  A ball kicked out on the full over the dead ball line will be a 20m restart with a zero tackle.

All of the above are the same whatever tackle the ball is kicked on.

I believe that if a player is legitimately tackled into touch this also results in a lateral handover (although it may be 20m in from the touchline where the tackle occurred on that one).

Thanks for explaining, I think I get it somewhat  now

[Leyther_Matt]

2 hours ago, Angelic Cynic said:

If people don't understand - they won't attend.Not when the drunks and idiots are in attendance. 

Rugby union doesn’t seem to suffer from the drunks and idiots in attendance not understanding what’s going on.  

[Just Browny]

The worst thing is nobody could really say why we have changed these rules, there is no obvious benefit at all. Most rule changes just move a problem around rather than resolve anything.

[Dunbar]

7 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

The worst thing is nobody could really say why we have changed these rules, there is no obvious benefit at all. Most rule changes just move a problem around rather than resolve anything.

The play the ball replacing the scrum when the ball goes in touch is an awful law.  It is supposed to speed up the game but all it does is create a situation where the defence is fully set as the ref demands a fully controlled restart. 

[Damien]

31 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

The worst thing is nobody could really say why we have changed these rules, there is no obvious benefit at all. Most rule changes just move a problem around rather than resolve anything.

Yep, most rule changes in recent years have not improved the game and even worse they have often had unintended negative consequences. Some have been nothing but gimmicks.

[Just Browny]

7 hours ago, Dunbar said:

The play the ball replacing the scrum when the ball goes in touch is an awful law.  It is supposed to speed up the game but all it does is create a situation where the defence is fully set as the ref demands a fully controlled restart. 

By a different route exactly the same happens because of the 'six again' rule. It is supposed to speed up the flow of the game but it means that if the defensive line isnt set (e.g. after a change in possession) the defence is just happy to lie on until everyone is back, conceding a six again.

[Dave T]

10 hours ago, Just Browny said:

The worst thing is nobody could really say why we have changed these rules, there is no obvious benefit at all. Most rule changes just move a problem around rather than resolve anything.

It's my biggest bugbear with this one in particular.  This was done by stealth following Covid restrictions. 

I think it's only relatively recently that people have started to realise that the rules have properly changed. 

[Tubby]

5 hours ago, Dave T said:

It's my biggest bugbear with this one in particular.  This was done by stealth following Covid restrictions. 

I think it's only relatively recently that people have started to realise that the rules have properly changed. 

My understanding was that the rules were changed during COVID in order to avoid scrums, where 12 men all get together and breathe on each other at close quarters.

I assumed that we would revert to scrums once things were more normal.  Perhaps we will see them revert to scrums for next season?

[Keith T]

Scrums at present are a shambles so if we are still going to have them let’s make them mean something. 

My idea would be that every scrum would consist of 12 players (6 per side). If a team has a player sin-binned or sent off they must still have 6 players in any scrums thereby bringing in one of the backs.

 The ball is fed into the scrum and must pass through the legs of the front row, second row and loose forward and picked up by the person feeding the scrum. If the ball is taken against the head then the same rule applies.

Any player other than the scrum feeder or his opposing number picking up the ball will automatically be penalised, likewise any player breaking from the scrum before the ball is collected will be penalised.

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, Keith T said:

Scrums at present are a shambles so if we are still going to have them let’s make them mean something. 

My idea would be that every scrum would consist of 12 players (6 per side). If a team has a player sin-binned or sent off they must still have 6 players in any scrums thereby bringing in one of the backs.

 The ball is fed into the scrum and must pass through the legs of the front row, second row and loose forward and picked up by the person feeding the scrum. If the ball is taken against the head then the same rule applies.

Any player other than the scrum feeder or his opposing number picking up the ball will automatically be penalised, likewise any player breaking from the scrum before the ball is collected will be penalised.

There are some very good ideas here.

I like the idea of keeping 6 in the scrum even if a team is down with a player in the bin or sent off. It provides a real advantage to the non offending team which is what we want after all.

I would like the scrum half to ensure the ball passes in front of the inside leg of the loose head prop.  At least then even if the feed isn't straight we can see opposing teams realistically contest for possession with a push.

[Keith T]

It would be a better idea if more people read it and put forward any improvements, etc!!

[JF1]

On 11/09/2022 at 20:27, Simon147 said:

Thanks for explaining, I think I get it somewhat  now

Hi Simon.Welcome to rugby league.

Before we go any further we need to check your credentials.

Can you affirm that you are an eternal pessimist and that you can see the M62 from your bedroom window?