Neville Hopkins
One of the very first memories I have of playing rugby is about what happened at Tuesday and Thursday afternoon practises - training was unheard of in those days.
I remember absolutely nothing about learning to pass, kick and catch a rugby ball but I do have one enduring memory and that is about "forward rushes."
This entailed a group of players, usually the forwards although sometimes backs had to do it too, dribbling the ball along the ground while bound together like in a loose scrum.
One hapless player was chosen to dive down on the ball in order to stop the attack.
The loose scrum would then carry on, feet flailing in what was called "rucking" until the ball and sometimes the hapless player was spat out the back for the halfback to retrieve the ball.
This drill was repeated ad infinitum until the coach was satisfied we would all do this spectacularly well during Saturday's game.
Two skills were taught during this drill - what to do with the ball when it was on the ground and how to ruck.
We still see the ball on the ground quite often during a match, but, rucking? What's that?
Law 14 deals with what players can and cannot do while the ball is on the ground but not at a tackle, ruck or scrum.
In other words, in open play.
Here, a player may go to ground in order to gain possession of the ball.
Once he has done so, he must immediately do one of three things - get up with the ball, pass the ball, or release it.
After that, he must get back up on his feet.
He may not lie on, over or near the ball or prevent opponents from gaining posession, nor may he tackle or attempt to tackle an opponent while being on the ground.
If a player does go to ground to gain possession of the ball - usually after a kick downfield - arriving opponents may not fall on or over him to prevent one of the three things.
In watching first class matches, it amazes me how many times an arriving player "tackles" or dives on the player who has gone to ground to get the ball. It seems such a simple thing to do - wait until the player gets up with the ball and then tackle him.
To quote from the definition page of Law 14, "rugby is a game to be played by players who are on their feet.
"A player must not make the ball unplayable by falling down. Unplayable means that the ball is not immediately available to either team so that play may continue."
There is one very important point in that second sentence.
Players are not allowed to deliberately go to ground with the ball, except when being tackled.
How many times do we see a player on his feet gain possession at a tackle, or pick the ball up from a group of sprawled players, and then go to ground cradling it while waiting for team mates to make sure the ball is sealed off?
The same goes at a ruck.
A player gaining possession at a ruck cannot then go straight to ground with the ball, with exactly the same intention as previously stated.
Getting tackled with the ball going to ground is a different story, as what we have here is tackle law and there are specific things player with the ball, the defender, and arriving players can legitimately do.
Going to ground immediately after gaining possession is not one of them.
Afterall, such a player has won the ball which his team is now free to use as they choose.
If you gain the all-important possession at the tackle or ruck, why would you want to go to ground with it?
You might get rucked for your troubles, just like we did a very long time ago.
There is a trifecta here because the same rule applies at a scrum, with a minor difference.
A player, usually the halfback or flanker, cannot dive on the ball as it is "emerging" from a scrum.
I saw something like this occur in the North Otago vs South Canterbury match last weekend, but in this instance the ball had moved away a metre or two by the time a player dived on it and the scrum was over.
In this case, he had to comply with one of the three options mentioned earlier.
To me, "emerging" means just that - coming out the side or back of a scrum - and once it has gone a metre or two past that point it is a free-for-all.
I think a lot of referees ignore many of the offences around when the ball is on the ground, because they think they are "letting the game flow."
Take a close look at games this weekend and see if you can spot any players diving on the ball or going to ground with it illegally - usually getting away with it.
Personally, I usually tell players before a game to try and stay on their feet as when they are on the ground they are out of the game.
Compliance is usually pretty good, especially with schoolboy players, who love to run with and pass the ball without fear of getting tampled on.