Roll Away Tackler
by Ben Darwin | 03 March 2010 (14:04)
The new interpretation of the laws has taken hold and there are plenty of fans, as the first 3 rounds of this season’s S14 producing some interesting rugby.
The game that has startled people the most so far was the 72 – 65 result between the Lions and the Chiefs. I had to check a couple of times to see if I had read the score right.
Personally, I don’t like games like this as tries lose their ability to thrill and the contests for the ball seem meaningless when so many tries are scored. However, I don’t feel this game should take too much away from the new interpretations. There were a number of yellow cards in the game, which, whilst being important in order to lay down the new laws early in the competition, may have affected the outcome.
Most of the tries were scored late when it appeared either side was not in the contest and so tackling would have been optional. The altitude of the high veldt would have cleaned up the Chiefs and so the defensive line would have fallen to pieces late.
In games that will affect the reality and acceptance of the law change such as test matches, the defensive lines will be better serviced. Changes of interpretation of the law will always need time to take hold so that players and coaches will ultimately learn where they are going to impact the game the most and how to deal with this best.
My feeling is that if players are unable to make a contest in the “tackle jackle” scenario, whereby the attacker is on the ground, then the defending teams will be looking to hold the attacker up. The “crunch tackle” whereby the second defender focuses on lifting the hips of the ball carrier up and so losing his momentum though his drive in his legs, will make a big impact. The incoming defenders can then focus on changing the momentum of the attacker or rip at the ball at will.
The attackers may in turn look to go to ground earlier in the contact phase as the recycle may be easier at the point of contact, rather than working for yardage. This worries me somewhat as 22-phase rugby does little to excite; we need a contest of some form.
The defenders may also focus on going past the ball in the contact point rather than having a ball focus and looking for a counter ruck opportunity.
Where this will take us I am not sure yet but a least a law change will make the coaches and players think about the way around it.
