Tackling the man in the air

[ratsapprentice]

https://samrobertsrugby.com/2016/12/05/up-in-the-air/

Good article, one that I agree with completely.

 

[TRF_heineken]

It is interesting but this part is what I think many will find a gap in the argument:

Watching the incident, I feel he was close enough to catch the ball had Senatore not been there. So really, what that judicial sentence is telling Daly is not to attempt to catch the ball; but chase and allow the opposition to safely take possession of the ball; and then he can make the tackle. I think you're asking Daly to suppress his attacking instincts, to relinquish any chance of brilliance before he's had a chance to see if it's on. I think you're asking Daly not to be the player he is. I think you're asking the impossible.

Senatore was there. Senatore was in a better position than Daly from the beginning, the onus is fully on Daly or whoever else is chasing to have the duty of care. For me, as soon as the ball touches the boot of the kicker, the opposition gets the benefit of being in possession of the ball. Because 99% of the time a kick is made, it is collected by the opposing team when kept in play. The kicker turns over possession by kicking the ball.

The other thing to consider is to stop using this tactic, something that few teams have started to do. You are placing immense risk on your own team to have a chaser run down and then get a red card, and still expect your team to win the game. What some teams have employed is to have a forward chase down the kick, but because he's a bit slower, he waits for the jumper to come down and then tackle him and try to turn over the ball in the ruck situation. Much more safer, and has proven to be a bit more successful.

What I disagree with is when he says that we expect the impossible from the players. That is not true, I know of many players who prefer to put in a big tackle on an opponent instead of catching the ball in the air, some people relish that "OOOOOHH" cringe moment. It is true that this will continue to happen, and that is because it was overlooked far too often in the past, and this is basically just over a year where it has been properly marshalled. In time this too shall fade away into oblivion.

 

[Which Tyler]

Senatore was there. Senatore was in a better position than Daly from the beginning, the onus is fully on Daly or whoever else is chasing to have the duty of care. For me, as soon as the ball touches the boot of the kicker, the opposition gets the benefit of being in possession of the ball. Because 99% of the time a kick is made, it is collected by the opposing team when kept in play. The kicker turns over possession by kicking the ball.

Yup; Daly was only able to compete for the ball if Argentina didn't have any players there; it's where a specialist winger (should have) more experience of being in that position, and timed his run to hit Senatore hard just as he lands.

For me, the laws on this should change when the person jumping for the ball is jumping into space that he knows to be occupied (eg North vs Leicester). In those situations, the person jumping is the one creating the dangerous situation, and is the one who sohuld be responsible for a safe outcome. The person flatfooted on the ground shouldn't aggravate things, but if they're positioned to receive the ball, and someone jumps into their head, knees first - that's the jumper's fault, and he should be the one carded (again, in the North incident, IMO both players SHOULD have been carded as Thomstone wraps his arms and aggravates it; though it may need a law-change; or at least, re-interpretation of dangerous play). I'd argue that the Finn Russell incident a couple of years ago also falls into the category that the man creating the danger should have been the man punished for it.
Obviously though, that could well mean a red card for the player leaving the pitch on a stretcher, and I don't for a moment think that that is an image World Rugby wants to see on the front pages.

What I disagree with is when he says that we expect the impossible from the players. That is not true, I know of many players who prefer to put in a big tackle on an opponent instead of catching the ball in the air, some people relish that "OOOOOHH" cringe moment. It is true that this will continue to happen, and that is because it was overlooked far too often in the past, and this is basically just over a year where it has been properly marshalled. In time this too shall fade away into oblivion.

Now I've actually read the article - I agree with this as well.
"It's always been so" doesn't mean that it always must be so; penalise the play, and the play will soon become redundant. Players suppress their instincts all the time on the rugby pitch, for fear of being penalised / carded; it just takes time; and consistent enforcement.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

The whole point of a box kick is not territory, but to allow the kicking side the chance to contest possession whether directly in the air or by tackling the catcher the instant a toe hits the floor. In either scenario mistakes will happen as they do in every other aspect of the game. And when they do, the outcome looks pretty gruesome.

How to eradicate it? Only by preventing a two footed "jump" for the ball. That won't happen, so I think we're down to sensible referring. Penalise intent and recklessness to your heart's content, but not misjudgment. Ambulance chasing lawyers will disagree, but accidents happen and I do have a certain sympathy for the views in the article. I would also only allow the TMO to view incidents in real time - slo mo always makes things look far worse.

 

[FNS]

If you charge and are close to the ball and jump with one arm up trying to tap the ball you body goes into a motion where you may have mid air colition but its a frontal hit. If you are late, you never get that and any attemps to go for the ball will end in sweeping the other player.

Players "think" they may arrive in time insteed of going a tad slower and trying to hammer the player that just landed to try and get a knock on. If you praorctise this you know when the ball is kicked to far or when not.