It was interesting to see Swys take on how Munster kept hold of the ball and got over the advantage line. It had been all over the news in South Africa and some people on social media say that we are just bad losers. I still think Munster was the better team.
That said, it is a seriously dangerous technique and one day a player will break their arm or neck.
The ruck is my biggest head ache as well as the tackling that so many players are getting blown up. It doesn't help that everything is dissected in slow motion.
The quickest responses for the brain is around 20ms, then, you still have to move your body, get in position while trying to lock onto a moving target.
For stationary tacklers in would say that their knees need to be bend at 35 degrees at least. It is the responsibility of the ball carrier to protect themselves.
Then, I would say that players should adopt the NFL scrummage where you have to have your hands in from of you when you make a tackle.
My final point would be the definition of going of your feet. If you have your hand PLANTED on the ground then you are on the ground. There is nothing wrong if you stabilise yourself.
When comes to the ruck, players lay over the ball, knees on the ground and no way of pushing them off.
We see so many human centripeeds. The scrummy get a free kick.
Penalties around the breakdown. I would just go back to the free kick, but you can't change it to a scrum.
You can either kick or take a tap. Defending players have to release the ball immediately. If they slow it down then it becomes a straight arm penalty.
We will see more running rugby and better contest on the ground.
I would also go as far as to say that the tackler is not off side, he just need to be on his feet. Release the player, got on his feet.
This will protect the poacher/ tackler as their head or neck won't be exposed which allow the attacking team to clear out the player with less risk given that you will hit their bum and not neck. Just get rid of the gate.
We could try to remove hands from the ruck but that never worked. So I would still allow for the poach but if you get your timing wrong it goes back to a free kick and you have to release the ball immediately
