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Jawgap · 19-10-2011 01:34PM

daveharnett wrote: »

............who could be totally the wrong shape for the job. Add in the fact that there is always the possibility of a second row having a brain fart and engaging normally,............

FYP:D

castie · 20-10-2011 02:36AM

daveharnett wrote: »

Bear in mind that you have now got a player in the front row who has (in all probability) never played there before, and who could be totally the wrong shape for the job. Add in the fact that there is always the possibility of a second row having a brain fart and engaging normally, a prop taking it into his head to have a little go at the newbie etc...

Binding also keeps the players stuck to the scrum that bit longer, giving the pretty boys a chance to do their thing. A loosehead can pop out the side almost as fast as a flanker if there is no bind/pressure from the lock.

Whenever a team went uncontested against me as A TH.
I held my bind as tight as possible to prevent the loosehead (usually a flanker..cheating piece of....) from breaking.

The amount of guys that went to the ref and actually complained about me binding. Puzzled look on the ref was priceless.

Ste_D · 21-10-2011 07:31PM

I heard talk that in future if a team lose a prop and dont have a replacement, then the ref can decide to go for uncontested scrums but the team are not allowed to replace the prop. They have to play with 14 men. This sounds like a really good idea to me, anyone know anything solid about this??

Losty Dublin · 21-10-2011 09:19PM

Ste_D wrote: »

I heard talk that in future if a team lose a prop and dont have a replacement, then the ref can decide to go for uncontested scrums but the team are not allowed to replace the prop. They have to play with 14 men. This sounds like a really good idea to me, anyone know anything solid about this??

Have you a source and some clearer facts about this before people can comment on same, please?

Ste_D · 22-10-2011 12:44PM

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Have you a source and some clearer facts about this before people can comment on same, please?

No, it was just an idea i heard thrown around, I was mentioning it to see if anybody has some facts!!

Downtime · 22-10-2011 07:58PM

Ste_D wrote: »

I heard talk that in future if a team lose a prop and dont have a replacement, then the ref can decide to go for uncontested scrums but the team are not allowed to replace the prop. They have to play with 14 men. This sounds like a really good idea to me, anyone know anything solid about this??

With rolling substitutions, if you have used all your substitutions, and then lose a prop, you cannot replace him and have to go uncontested.

Losty Dublin · 23-10-2011 06:15PM

Downtime wrote: »

With rolling substitutions, if you have used all your substitutions, and then lose a prop, you cannot replace him and have to go uncontested.

Just to back this up...

http://www.arlb.ie/?page_id=984

7. After all 12 changes have been made, no other changes will be allowed for whatever reason including injuries. If, after the 12 changes have been made there is any reason for a player to leave the field of play, the team must play on with one less player. Uncontested scrums will apply if this involves a front-row player.

ionadnapóca · 29-06-2026 11:53AM

Be prepared for allot More mauls and thus allot More kicking of Pens to the corner.

It's going to be next to impossible to stop a maul.

And prob more Yellow Cards also.

Stupidity from WR.

https://www.the42.ie/maul-change-rugby-7084515-Jun2026/

— - — - — - —

So what exactly are World Rugby hoping to see with this new guideline?

Basically, if a defender in a maul gets beyond the ball and/or into a pulling/dragging position, they need to immediately leave the maul.

“Once a player loses dominance and moves to be in a position to drag or pull, they should remove themselves from the contest or will be liable to sanction,” reads part of the guideline.

Referees have been asked to ‘manage’ this, then use penalty sanctions to deter players from doing it again.

Once a defending player has left the maul, they are still entitled to come back around onto their team’s side and rejoin by binding onto their hindmost team-mate in the maul.

So the real key is that defenders cannot end up in a position to pull or drag the maul.

— - — - — - —

It has been underlined that being ‘bound’ means with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder. In many recent instances, defending players have not been bound with their shoulders.

World Rugby hope the maul will become easier to referee, manage, and explain to fans.

This new guideline kicked in from 1 June, so it applies to all upcoming international rugby, including the Nations Championship.

— - — - — - —

“I think teams will probably maul more, and I think there’ll be more penalties at the maul,” said Paul O’Connell.

“I think some of them will probably be unfair penalties. I think players will probably do a really good job at defending a maul. They’ll end up where they’re quite dominant, and they’ll end up being put offside because they’re dominant.

“And if the referee decides to ping someone straight away and doesn’t manage that player out, I think you could end up with some unfair penalties. But it’s the same for everyone and we all have to learn to deal with it.

“It’s going to be tricky while we all figure it out at the start. But France have been doing it for a year now. I’ve spoken to Donnacha Ryan a little bit about it and he said you just get on with it and you figure it out.

“You accept that there might be one or two more penalties than you’re used to. You try and coach the players hard to not have to be told to get out, to realise I’ve probably gone too far here and get out and get on to the other side.

“It’s going to be a challenge and hopefully with the work we’ve done, we can navigate that challenge while everyone is figuring it out at the start.”

— - — - — - —

“I wouldn’t say it’s a massive change for us,” said James Ryan.

“Some teams like England, they like sweeping around the maul almost just holding you in and dragging you back, whereas our maul D would be more north-south, trying to keep the weight in front, as opposed to creeping up the sides. So hopefully, it’ll be good for us.

“But I think you’ll see teams going for the lineout drive more now because if refs are going to be more pedantic around guys creeping up the side and giving away penalties, I think teams will look to take advantage of it.

“It’s not a bad thing for me as a lineout forward.”

sydthebeat · 29-06-2026 12:01PM

im delighted, ive been calling for players on the wrong side of mauls to be gotten out of there for years. Defenders are going to have to "re-learn" how to bank and double bank in maul defense. All you need to do is stop the maul moving twice before teh attacking team have to use it, so defenses will have to properly maul in that 'pushing' defense to force the attack to use. that will in essence stretch the game as well, as defense will have to be tighter to ensure that maul doesnt get a head of steam up. Youll see a lot more lineouts uncontested so that the ground is set.

interesting that James Ryan only spoke on it from the attacking pov.

FtD v2 · 29-06-2026 12:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124588636#Comment_124588636

Or, you might see teams gamble and try to steal primary possession and not let the perceived bigger mauling pack get a foothold, like Max Deegan did to the Bulls in the URC Final I think.

I quite like the side of the game where you have to make strategic / tactical decisions around how you're going to approach certain parts of the game.

It's been said before on here I think - but the importance of the lineout is regularly massive understated versus the importance of the scrum. Teams can survive in a game even where their scrum is being obliterated, but if you cannot secure possession in a lineout or slow down the oppositions, it's very hard to win nowadays, and generally there are a lot more lineouts than scrums.

sydthebeat · 29-06-2026 12:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124588685#Comment_124588685

yeah i remember seeing a stat before that in the last few RWCs (2007 onwards) theres about 16 scrums per game on average, whereas theres about 28 lineouts in that same period.

ShineyShiney · 29-06-2026 12:58PM

More competition for the ball in the lineout to preempt the lineout competition perhaps. Good news for guys like Baird, Niall Murray and Aherne, their defensive lineout ability may become a more valuable tool.

AbusesToilets · 29-06-2026 01:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124588685#Comment_124588685

I just never agree with teams refusing to compete for lineout ball , especially with the rule change regarding crooked throws. A 2 man pod with your best jumping backrow is free money practically.

eagle eye · 29-06-2026 03:06PM

It's all well and good coming up with new rules but who wants to see more mauls? It's going to make the game less attractive.

The game needs to grow and draw more people in. The free kicks at scrums was a great idea, making mauls less attractive is what we want to get more people watching the game.

ionadnapóca · 29-06-2026 05:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124588828#Comment_124588828

Its descended into a farce.

Not only the crooked throws but the same Law "Trials" also brought in another change which makes it more difficult to defend the maul.

Players who were part of a ruck or maul may not play an opponent taking the ball from the ruck or maul.
https://passport.world.rugby/laws-of-the-game/whats-new/2025-01-global-law-trials/

Thankfully one of the very best referees (Ben O'Keeffe) is in charge for Aus-Ireland. Unfortunately, he has the unenviable task of been one of the first referees to 'identify, manage and/or sanction' the new 'application guideline' of the maul.

This stupid decision came off the back of the "~~SARU~~ World Rugby Shape of the Game" meeting.

Its blindingly obvious whats going to happen here and who its going to favour.

Hint: Not Fiji

All of these are wrapped up as "Fan-Focused".

And of course the fans who never played the game are lapping it up. Not realising the actual impact.

Stream of maul tries, tmo checks, yellow cards, probably slowing the game down even more and ruining the competitiveness and spectacle further.

A good kick to touch, a good lineout, a good maul and you are laughing all the way to another world cup.

AbusesToilets · 29-06-2026 05:53PM

At this point, I'm coming around to reverting the law to allow mauls to be freely sacked. The incongruity between how the maul is officiated from a lineout versus one that forms from an open field tackle is glaring also. When have you ever seen a defending team penalised for dragging down a maul from a choke tackle, or for not joining from the hindmost foot?

phog · 29-06-2026 06:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124589554#Comment_124589554

Players who were part of a ruck or maul may not play an opponent taking the ball from the ruck or maul.

Yet, they largely allow/ignore backroom players breaking their bind in the scrum to give them the edge in defending a opponent taking the ball from the back of a scrum

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