Maul strategy - legal?

[TDeg]

Hello and thanks for looking at this post.

A guest coach suggested this maul strategy. But is it legal?

The attacking player arrives at the defending player. The attacking player applies a hand off pushing the defender back, taking a low pushing stance. Meanwhile the attacking player's team mate who is first on the scene, slides over / to the side of the attacking player (with the ball) towards the defending player and pushes the defending player away. All this time, the first attacking player has the ball.

Is this a legal move?

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Hello and thanks for looking at this post.

A guest coach suggested this maul strategy. But is it legal?

The attacking player arrives at the defending player. The attacking player applies a hand off pushing the defender back, taking a low pushing stance. Meanwhile the attacking player's team mate who is first on the scene, slides over / to the side of the attacking player (with the ball) towards the defending player and pushes the defending player away. All this time, the first attacking player has the ball.

Is this a legal move?

I don't know in this case but from playing quite a while i have heard many high up coaches coach things which are actually illegal, they always say you get away with things 99% of the time and to just play the ref.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Hello and thanks for looking at this post.

A guest coach suggested this maul strategy. But is it legal?

The attacking player arrives at the defending player. The attacking player applies a hand off pushing the defender back, taking a low pushing stance. Meanwhile the attacking player's team mate who is first on the scene, slides over / to the side of the attacking player (with the ball) towards the defending player and pushes the defending player away. All this time, the first attacking player has the ball.

Is this a legal move?

Sounds perfectly legal to me. As long as the 2nd player comes from an on-side position and does not obstrcut so timing will be difficult and staying on your feet in a tackle might be more difficult than one might think so you'd probably have to go in slowish and highish to stay in control but that puts you at risk of being tackled backwards quite easily so it might backfire quite easily if your opposition is worth anything. Much easier said than implemented IMO.

I'd suggest the 1st attacker take contact and try and turn his back on the opposition so that he doesn't get the ball ripped off of him easily. Also be careful that the ball doesn't get held up otherwise if it doesn't progress you will concede posession. I wouldn't suggest going for a maul in any position other than a line-out to be honest. If the maul happens, fine but trying to set it up in open play is asking for trouble IMO.

 

[Icemn]

the only problem is to actually get a situation like that...

backline players tends to run away from the forwards and tend to sometimes isolate themselves... other backline players won’t start a maul, that will be weird but unexpected...

 

[duncanb]

IMHO in this case a maul does not exist as from the description there is not a bind from the defender as he has been handed off/pushed off by the ball carrier and no bind from 2nd attacker to ball carrier so no maul is existance(17.2 d placing a hand on a player does not constitue binding) so I see this as open play so 2nd player is in effect a blocker so pen for me on this instance as described above.
However I am sure in a fast paced decent standard game this ball would be passed straight away so would probably look liked a failed tackle should it continue then the man in front will just as quickly look like a blocker.

 

[TDeg]

Thank you for your replies.