"Played at" rule from RL in RU?

[ratsapprentice]

I've been thinking that I'd quite like to see this rule trialled. Anyone else a fan?

For those who don't watch RL:

Essentially it means that if a player kicks the ball and it touches an opposition player and then goes into touch, the referee determines whether or not the ball was "played at" or not.
If said player deliberately tried to charge down/block or catch the ball then the other team get possession at the re-start, however, if they don't make any attempt to play the ball then it counts as coming off the kicker.

Similar to blocking - where if you stand still/hold your ground it's not-blocking, as soon as you alter your course then it becomes obstruction.

 

[g6mcg]

Not opposed, but how often would/does it happen?

Edit: As in, how often does the ball go into touch after hitting an opponent who wasn't playing at it?

 

[j'nuh]

I dislike the idea that the kicker's team regains possession off of a charge-down deflection. It's rewarding them for making a mistake. I'd go in the other direction: all deflections immediately after a kick do not count as having touched the ball.

 

[TheSaffycen]

So if someone charged down a clearing kick and it goes dead who gets the put in ? Is it a 22 drop out or a scrum for the team who blocked ?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Well it wouldn't have to be applied to kicks necessarily. But I don't see that teams are rewarded for having kicks charged down - if the ball goes out then they have already lost territory.

It's more a general principle - so it would apply in situations where you are trying to determine if a player is onside or not.
You couldn't be accidentally offside if you caught a ball that had come off a player from your own team if it hadn't been played at, for example.

 

[goodNumber10]

do we really need another law that is widely open to Refs interpretation?

Ref: "you played it"
Player: "no i didn't"
Jiffy: "think the IRB really need to look at this rule and change it so it's only enforced when it suits wales"

 

[ratsapprentice]

It's not really open to interpretation.

The sort of situations that it applies to mean that you either instinctively play it or you don't even see the ball - it works fine in RL.

 

[goodNumber10]

It's not really open to interpretation.

The sort of situations that it applies to mean that you either instinctively play it or you don't even see the ball - it works fine in RL.

fair enough.

on a slight tangent am i alone in finding league adhering to the "honour thy ref" code of conduct far better than Union at the moment?

 

[Every Time Ref]

"Played at" rule from RL in RU?

I'd be tempted by the idea that chargedowns don't count as a touch, full stop - applying to lineouts, offsides etc. not sure how it would work in reality though - would maybe need an exception for @TheSaffycen's 22 example of the ball going dead in-goal.