Wynne Gray: Lamenting lost art of rucking

Rucking's pariah status has been building for some time. Its exit from the game has produced applause from those who label it a barbaric practice and handwringing from the rest who maintain rugby has lost its point of difference and, with it, its soul.

Those who delight in conspiracies see rucking's fading lustre as a victory for those sides in the north and those not too far away in the Sanzar brotherhood who favour mauling, grappling and wrestling ahead of rucking.

Put your boots near bodies now and you are inviting a date with the judiciary or at least a trip to the cooler. Jason Eaton discovered that with his trampling of Bakkies Botha this season. He deserved a trip to the sin bin for that gauche footwork: it was dopey, but he was getting no other assistance from the referee.

Had Matt Goddard blown up play to penalise the Bulls lock for holding onto the ball, Eaton would not have made a mess of the moment. Instead, Botha gambled on the officials' distaste for anything resembling boots on bodies and won.

Former New Zealand whistler Paddy O'Brien has been with the International Rugby Board for the last four years managing referees, their workload, law changes and research into the game.

He believes rucking would solve a number of issues if players learned those skills again. He laments the way players kill the ball because they know they will not be rucked. O'Brien is very clear, though, about the merits of rucking compared to maverick acts of stamping, stomping, kicking or tap-dancing. Law 16 was very precise.

"Players are rucking when they are in a ruck and using their feet to try and win or keep possession of the ball without being guilty of foul play," he said, repeating the rule.

"Now you go to the section on foul play which says you cannot stomp on someone."

O'Brien said the sport's multiple audiences had decreed feet on bodies were unacceptable while modern players had lost the rugby art of proper rucking.

"Rucking is to go past the ball and heel it with the back of your foot. At the moment, a lot of people who think they are rucking are actually stamping and that is where the issue is," he said.

"In this world we live in with the TV cameras and all the angles they get, the public is saying that is not acceptable."

Many argue that with all the footage (excuse the pun), close-up examinations and sanctions, the task was straightforward. Players should learn to ruck properly or risk their wages being docked. It was simple.

Blues lock Ali Williams has felt the weight of the judiciary for improper rucking when he was banned for six weeks for his bootwork on close mate Richie McCaw in the 20005 Super series. He remains an advocate of rucking but does point out the difficulties.

"In the old days you used to go past the ball and ruck the ball back. Nowadays people are so physical at rucks we are almost at a standstill so rucking is getting much closer to a stomping motion," he said.

"If you could find a balance with the allowed motion of the foot, that would help.

"Rucking is going to help the flow of the game," said the All Black lock. "Though I do not think it is the be-all and end-all."

O'Brien believes rucking would sort out the clutter of bodies at the breakdown which have blighted the sport. The concept was still talked about at the IRB but the ruck was now a meeting of players deciding how best to extricate the ball.

It was not so long ago, he recalled, when All Black lock Chris Jack was peeled out the back of a Lions ruck when they toured New Zealand. There was some push and shove and Jack stood up with a few tag marks, looked at the Lions forwards and winked at them as if to say "I've got no problem with that, as long as we can give it back to you".

That sort of tale was sweet music to Colin Meads. In recent years the nation's most famous All Black has become more disconcerted by the shape of the game. All the talk at the ruck about gates from the referee was a distraction, he said. Gates were for farms, not footy fields.

Meads still watched a great deal of rugby but was confused about rulings at most breakdowns and did not approve of the conversational coaching from referees.

"Rucking would help the game. If you fell over you got rucked, so generally there was a hell of a fight to stay on your feet," Meads said of his playing days.

"We have got to get the forwards out of the backline and into their own contests. Blokes from my day like Bill Davis, Paul Little and Bruce Robertson would not have been able to live in the modern rugby world.

"It is so cluttered, you only get a couple of yards to beat a man. When there are just seven men in the backline there are holes, there are chances to attack and it calls for excellent defence."

Meads did not hold out any hope for a proper return to rucking because of the Home Nations' opposition. The day he was sent off against Scotland in 1967 was his second offence as he had been warned first for over-vigorous rucking. He loved it when he was part of a pack in rucking unison.

"All eight of us would hit rucks, like a pukeko with our heads down and our arses up. We were bloody good at it, our body position was good, the lower the better. We never rucked any heads, though there was the odd rogue in the game and they got sorted out," Meads explained.

Former All Black flanker Alan Whetton suggested the NZRU should hold a referendum to feel the national pulse about rucking.

Rugby was meant to be a simple game but it had become very confusing. Rucking was a method of creating quick ball and players who did not release possession learned the consequences.

Whetton was suspended in 1991 after his boots caught Stephen Bachop in a ruck during a provincial match at Eden Park.

There would always be incidents, he said, because rugby was a tough, physical game but the judiciary was there to make their rulings. Ruck-ball was the cleanest form of possession and made the game a lot more simple to play and watch - the breakdown today has become more of a problem.

"If I was playing now and I got cleaned out as they do now without being near the ball, I would want to whack someone. I ask you: what is more dangerous?" he said.

Blues looseforward centurion Justin Collins learned the arts of rucking as he first dipped his toes into the sport in the Far North and over the years he has been penalised for over-vigorous rucking. Collins believes the encouragement of rucking would see an improved game.

"All the crowds want to see is some freeflowing rugby and nothing gets the ball out better than good rucking on the ball. It keeps the hands and fingers out of the way, the ball is out and gone," he said.

"It's all anyone wants from the game, all the players think it's a great idea to be able to free the ball up that way. I have been penalised for over-vigorous rucking and I was always taught ankles and knees hurt when they were stood on, but players move away and learn not to get in the road again."