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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 12:41:30
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| We have recently had a coaching session from a 1st team forward for a U12 team in the North Mids Area. They told the kids to " seal" the ruck by binding on to the tackled player on the ground. Often called the " jockey postion". Then the next players the bind on to him. In two recent games against staffordshire based sides their coaches have complained and stated they have been told by Staffordshire refs that what we are doing is illegal and bridging. Then i refed a U13 game recently with two North Mids sides one of which were using this technquie and approached the team`s coach and they stated that it was ok in North mids I am confused....
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 27/11/2008 22:44:54
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| At whatever age group and irrespective of what county, division, country etc you are in, sealing off is illegal. It has always been illegal but has gone unpenalised for so long that coaches have coached their teams to seal off - I did this myself. I-attended an RFU Coach Development event during pre-season where we were informed that referees had been instructed to focus on two areas of existing law - sealing off and hands in the ruck. The main problem we have encountered at the Colts level is the inconsistency in interpretation by different referees.
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 04/01/2009 12:41:10
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sealing may be illegal, but so is almost everything that goes on in a ruck - as I understand the letter of the law the tackled player must release the ball and the tackler must roll away; a ruck is then formed when the ball is on the floor and opposing players are in contact disputing possession. in theory, once a ruck is formed the ball cannot be touched with any part of the body except the legs until it emerges from the ruck and is picked up by a player not bound on or in contact with the ruck
If I am right in my understanding of the rules the problems that arise are
1. the tackled player rarely releases the ball quickly
2. the tackler rarely attempts to get out of the way
3. the first support players to arrive do not know whether the ball is in open play or whether a ruck has been formed and are unsure whether to pick it up or not
4. the ball gets stuck under a pile of bodies and usually cannot be moved with the feet as required by the laws
5. the ball mysteriously emerges from the pile of bodies
Hardly surprising that kids struggle to do what they are told...
steve
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 12:41:30
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| I agree with what has been said. But i am concerned re this sealing off that has been coached by 1st team to the juniors ( 1st team play Mids 1 and are they not getting pinged for this sealing?)
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 08:49:15
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I am afraid that you have just learned why - wonderful idea that it is - getting senuior players to coach young players is not always a good idea.
Or more pertinently, getting senior players to coach younger players WITHOUT having what they are going to coach exactly pre checked is not always a good idea.
Its exactly thius reason why I have never asked 1st XV props to come down and coach scrummaging! ;-) They'll have LOTS to coach the players... it just possibly isn;t wise for the players to learn this stuff at that juncture of their playig careers!
didds (an ex 1st XV prop ;-)
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Forum Member
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Last Login: 30/11/2008 16:37:19
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Agreed- there is a lot of demerit in senior players coaching jnr rugby where law variations exist, but regional interpretation or should that be MISinterpretation!  is a massive bugbear of mine! While I appreciate every man woman or dog that is prepared to ref, it is incumbent on their schools, clubs & local unions to furnish the poor creatures with the latest laws (the IRB provide such documents for free) If in criminal cases, ignorance is no defence, it should be no different in Rugby!
Rugbia floreat ubique
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 01/12/2008 10:51:09
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| The ruck is difficult to referee and will always have an element of individual interpretation by the referee. What I do as a ref is explain to the teams how I will interpret this area. "if you are off your feet around the tackle/ruck area I will assume this is deliberate unless you make attempts to move away and i will penalise you immediatley" As you can only seal the ball by being off your feet (or using a support player) this is as clear as I can make it. Regarding the tackle sequence the tackler must roll away first, then the tackled player places the ball down & back. Again too many players and coaches forget this and moan about "hanging on" whilst they or their players are still locked on to the tackled player preventing release. I would encourage all who coach mini junior rugby (as i do) to go on an ELR course it will make you a better coach. Well done the pointy heads for beating the criminals and can you come and show England how to clear out at the ruck and not "seal off the ball" as they did against NZ on saturday. Narky marky
Mark
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Forum Member
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Last Login: 04/01/2009 16:21:53
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| The ruck is now difficult to ensure ball at. Wales produced their best attacking performance in Gatland's reign by trying to avoid rucks using offloads. Nevertheless, for all the times the ref correctly blew for players being off their feet at rucks on Sat, there were as many he didn't blow for. Rightly or wrongly, referees take into account other factors like the proximity of support, the speed of the ball, etc.. I guess what the ref was trying to do was penalise instances where the sealing was particualrly egregious -but this means there is a large amount of interpretation involved. It will be interesting to see whether other sides adopt the offload style. It might be the result of the ELVs and new interpretations depowering the maul and ruck.
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