To successfully ground the ball in goal, a player may either touch the ground with the ball or press the ball down on the ground.
Touching the ground with the ball involves holding the ball with the hand(s) or arm(s).
No downwards pressure is required, simply holding the ball while it comes in contact with the ground, in goal.
This is a relatively recent addition to the laws and many older players will be aghast that this is all you need to do to score.
A player may also ground the ball by pressing down on it with the hands, arms or the front of the body, anywhere from waist to neck.
These are the more usual ways you see the ball grounded but I personally haven't seen any tries scored with the neck lately.
A try can be scored by the attacking team in one of four ways.
1. A player can be first to ground the ball as defined above - by touching the ball on the ground or pressing down on it on the ground.
2. They can ground the ball against the goal post or padding, but the ball needs to be on the ground and not above it.
3. A try can also be scored by a player who is in touch or touch-in-goal grounding the ball, providing that player is not holding or carrying the ball.
That is, he can reach out and place a hand on the ball while it is on the ground in goal, while actually being in touch at the time.
4. A penalty try can be awarded if a try would probably have been scored but for foul play by the opposing team.
The key word here is "probably" - the referee has to weigh up whether there are other defenders in close proximity who could potentially have prevented the ball carrier from grounding the ball.
Likewise, a touchdown is awarded to the defenders if any of the above (except the penalty try) has led to a defender being first to ground the ball.
After a touchdown, play can restart with either a dropout on the 22m line or a 5m scrum.
When an attacking player sends or carries the ball into the in goal and it is first grounded by a defender or it goes into touch, touch-in-goal or over the dead ball line, a 22m dropout is awarded.
When an attacking player throws or knocks the ball on in the field of play and it travels in goal and is made dead, a scrum is awarded to the defenders where the infringement occurred, but not closer than 5m from the goal line.
If the defenders throw or knock the ball into their in goal and a defender grounds the ball, a 5m scrum is awarded to the attackers, opposite where the ball was grounded.
Likewise, when defenders put the ball into their in goal and the clearing kick is charged down, making the ball go dead, a 5m scrum is awarded to the attackers, in line with where the ball was made dead.
However, if the charge down occurs in the field of play and the ball goes dead, a dropout is the ruling.
The difference here is if the defenders put the ball in goal, they have to clear it over the goal line or face a 5m scrum.
If the kick goes over the goal line before it is charged down, the defenders have cleared their line and the attackers have effectively made the ball dead.
