So I found Ireland vs. S. Africa online, and it seems like an entertaining game, with lots of running around an improvising. So is basketball, so good for them.
I understand American football fairly well from the many years of watching, so that’s probably a starting point to use as a reference. Also, if there are “odd” terms, please try to explain them. I don’t know all the terms you might want to use.
Questions:
Most confusingly: Why is the ref yelling “Stay there” when the ball is kicked forward on a high arc?
What determines the type of throw in when the ball goes out of bounds?
What determines that a scrum will happen?
Why is the offensive player trusted to make a fair throw from the sideline or into a scrum? It’s obvious even to me that they don’t do it. I can’t think of any other parallel, where a player is expected to “be fair” about something. Either make a rule about what can be done, or don’t. I can pass anywhere I want in basketball.
Obviously the ball cannot just be grabbed when a tackled player lets go of it. I’ve seen the offensive team take at least 5 seconds to pick up the ball as it just lays there. I think the O team has to get back onsides, is that right? At what point can the D team try to grab it: when the next O player touches it?
Is there a way to just rip the ball from the O team and take off with it?
How would I watch more contemporary games? I have DirecTV, but I don’t know if we have Fox World Sport or whatever that is. As of now, I don’t have any British pubs near me, either. I’m kind of in the sticks.
Fundamentally in a scrum and a line-out the team doing the throw or put-in are supposed to have an advantage, it’s not intended to be fair or anything. If a ref did the throw, there’d be no advantage to the offensive team, that’s not the intention.
I think the idea here is that the team with the throw in can decide how far the throw in will be, so they know beforehand where the ball will end up and thuis who to lift. The side without the ball needs to guess. The ball should still be in the middle, so when the defence guesses right, it is 50-50.
To keep the players onside. They have to be behind the kicker when he kicks it. If they’re forward of him, they’re offside, and shouldn’t try to retrieve it.
It’s always a line-out if the ball goes out of play, unless a few special cases occur, in which case a scrum happens. Line-outs can be taken quickly as just a regular rugby pass into the field unless the opposition winger gets into position and stops this. Who gets the throw-in at the line-out is more complicated. If the ball is kicked out in open play, then the opposition gets the throw in. If the ball is kicked out from a penalty, then the team that kicked it out gets the throw.
Usually they’re given for knock-ons, i.e. dropping the ball forward. You can also opt for a scrum instead of a kick at a penalty.
The player throwing in these days is usually the hooker. The linesman stands next to him as he throws making sure it is straight. Furthermore, the referee is also checking. Line-outs regularly get called out for being squint (usually when I’m throwing, though :D)
The D team can grab it at any time by coming straight through the ruck. What’s not allowed is “entering from the sides”. Players grabbing the ball have to be on their feet. As soon as the O scrum-half has his hands on the ball, the ruck is over, and anything goes.
Yes. This happens all the time in mauls. Proper placement of the ball in a maul is a must, otherwise the opposition grabs it. Bending fingers back is a common trick for getting opposition hands off the ball.
Yes, that is correct. The number eight will usually call out a code to the hooker, who is throwing the ball in. This determines where the ball is going to be thrown, how high and how fast. The rest of the code is usually to the jumpers and scrum-half who need to know what to do with it when they have won the ball.
At my club, CAT 55 is a straight-up front jump with the ball straight off the top to the backs, whereas DOT 19 is the back jumper taking a couple of steps back, then going-up, with the scrum-half and hooker performing a switch when it’s passed down. We have dozens of combinations. It’s also common for teams to try to work out what the opposition calls mean, and opposition hookers to attempt to drown out the calls from the other team, so they end up in disarray.
It’s the referee’s job to make sure the throws are straight. The line-outs and scrums are also about removing the forwards from play temporarily so backs can run at each other.
More specifically, if they were in front of him when the ball was kicked, they are not allowed to advance down the field at all until the kicker has run forward to a position in front of them - they can retreat to behind him and then advance if they wish.
Scrums are given for minor offenses, such as fumbling the ball. A free kick is given for more significant offenses, such as accidental interference and a penalty for serious offenses such as hands in the ruck, foul play, etc.
A comment on the difference between a ruck and a maul - a maul occurs when the players are tussling for the ball, but the ball is raised off the ground. If the ball is placed on the ground, it becomes a ruck, and the rules give more protection to the team that was carrying the ball forward.
A free kick’s given for stuff like playing too many players in a line-out. The team can either kick the ball downfield, take a tap, or opt for a scrum.
The difference between a free kick and a penalty is sort of like the difference between a direct and indirect free kick in football (soccer) - in a free kick, you have to play the ball before attempting to score, while for a penalty, you can kick directly for the posts (if you choose to do so). So a free kick either gets tapped and the tapper runs or it is passed to someone who kicks for touch or attempts a drop goal.
