Martin's Rugby Coaching Forum

Hi,

Something happened on Sunday that did not affect the match in anyway, but did lead to some questions that I did not fully know how to correctly answer after the match from my players.

The situation is:

Team A have been awarded a penalty, which they elect to kick to touch from outside their 22, they miss kick and the ball lands in the playing area and before the try line, it then bounces up and out at a 45° angle and hits the corner post at the top by the flag and then goes directly into touch. Now which is the correct refereeing decision?


A. a five meter lineout to the attacking team.

B. a 22 drop out to the defending team.

C. a scrum back from where the kick was taken.

D. Either B or C offered to the defending team.


Pre-ELV’s it would have been D, but with the new ELV’s effectively removing the corner post, would it now be A? I know that if it had hit the corner post and bounced back into play the ball would still be live, so is the reverse true and it hits the corner post and goes out then it is considered that it has crossed the line off touch and not touch in goal?

Regards,

Bosic

Your question is exactly the sort of thing that will come forward in the next weeks and I am more than happy to answer (correctly I trust).


OK. In your scenario below;

- The corner post is a dead element (so no decision need be made because the ball hit the post)
- It is important to know what happened to the ball AFTER hitting the post (the flag itself is irrelevant)


After the ball hits the post I see four different possibilities (and I have added their outcomes);

Bounces back into the field of play – play on

Bounces into touch (as in your scenario) – line-out for the attacking side minimum of 5 meters from the goal-line (lets ignore quick throw-ins etc for the moment)

Bounces into in-goal – Defence could decide to ground the ball (resulting in a 22 meter drop-out) or play on – they can run the ball out and/or kick directly into touch - they will receive a gain in ground (presuming they manage to get the ball out of their in-goal)

Bounces into touch in-goal – this will result in a choice for the defence – 22 meter drop-out or a scrum at the place the ball was kicked

So well thought out by you,



Cheers



Sean