Player A from the Red team tackles Player X of the Blue team on the half way line. As the tackle is made, Player X passes to team mate Y as he and Player A fall over the touch line and Y kicks the ball into the Red's 22.
Red's kick the ball directly into touch where it is caught by Player X, who is recovering from being tackled, and he takes a quick throw to himself with Player A standing immediately behind him, both off the field of play.
As Player X catches the ball, over the 5 metre line, he is tackled by Player A.
The referee blows the whistle and gives a penalty to the Blue team deeming that Player A was offside.
Was the referee correct or was the fact that both players were off the field of play as the ball went out of play relevant in making Player A onside?
I have re-described this using the system we use on Rugbyrefs.com. Rather than thatn using "Player A", "Player B" etc, we use team colours and numbers (the actual numbers don't matter, as long as they are consistent)
Player A = Red 12
Player X = Blue 12
Player Y = Blue 13
Player kicking the ball into touch = Red 15
[TEXTAREA]Red 12 tackles Blue 12 on half way.
Blue 12 passes in the tackle to Blue 13
As that happens, Blue 12 and Red 12 fall over the touch line, and Blue 13 kicks the ball into the Red 22.
Red 15 kicks the ball directly into touch where it is caught by Blue 12 who is recovering from being tackled, and he takes a quick throw to himself with Red 12 standing immediately behind him, both off the field of play.
As Blue 12 catches the ball, over the 5 metre line, he is tackled by Red 12
The referee penalises Red 12 for offside.
Was the referee correct or was the fact that both players were off the field of play as the ball went out of play relevant in making Red 12 onside/offside?[/TEXTAREA]
Red 12 was offside under the 10m Law before the ball went into touch,
[TEXTAREA]LAW 11.4 OFFSIDE UNDER THE 10-METRE LAW
(a) When a team-mate of an offside player has kicked ahead, the offside player is considered to be taking part in the game if the player is in front of an imaginary line across the field which is 10 metres from the opponent waiting to play the ball, or from where the ball lands or may land. The offside player must immediately move behind the imaginary 10-metre line or the kicker if this is closer than 10 metres. While moving away, the player must not obstruct an opponent.
Sanction: Penalty kick[/TEXTAREA]
Once the ball goes into touch the ball is dead and there is no offside, however,
if the referee was thinking advantage, then he can still come back and penalise a player who was offside
before the ball went into touch.
A player can be offside if they are ahead of a kick by their own team mate, even if they are not in the playing area. Were this not the case, it would create havoc. Coaches would send players outside the touchlines to get them ahead of kicks.
