In recent years, World Rugby has taken welcomed steps to address areas of concern like the scrum and tackle. However, one aspect that continues to be ignored is the ruck.
On this week's episode of World in Union, Balls.ie weekly rugby show getting an outside perspective on Irish rugby and the sport, we spoke to Ben Cisneros, Editor of rugbyandthelaw.com. He recently published a fascinating breakdown of the issues surrounding the ruck and the laws that exist but are not being enforced.
Cisneros highlighted four key aspects of the breakdown that needs to be addressed.
Number one: players clearing out off their feet.
One hundred per cent. That is one of the key issues. For me, the massive danger there is players flying in off their feet. Not just going off their feet when they are in the ruck but actually flying into the ruck, almost launching themselves off their feet. It just means players are completely out of control going into the ruck. If you are out of control, you don't know where shoulders are going to land.
You could easily make contact with peoples' heads which is obviously a massive issue in rugby at the moment with the recent studies that have been done. I think that is the main one for me. The lack of control is very dangerous play. That example of the Cian Healy incident in Ireland against New Zealand last November was as clear an example as you like.
Nasty clear out from Whitelock on Healy.#IREvNZL pic.twitter.com/6VvgX8yxgN
— rugby (@theblitzdefence) November 17, 2018
Number two: “Players must not…intentionally collapse a ruck or jump on top of it,” and the crocodile roll.
In 2014, World Rugby made a clarification at the request of the RFU on this exact point. They ruled that the crocodile roll, not in as many words but that kind of judo roll, was legal. They went as far as to rule out neck rolls because of the danger to heads and necks. But they actually said that body throw was perfectly fine...
There are so many examples of serious injury because of this crocodile roll. It is something Ben Ryan, former England and Fiji sevens coach, has been going on about for years now. Since 2014 when World Rugby made this clarification he has been a real advocate to change that and I think he is bang on.
Number three: Players remaining on their feet throughout a ruck.
"It allows for fair competition for the ball, whether it is in the first minute or the last minute."
Number four: The Jackal
The law: "Players involved in all stages of the ruck must have their heads and shoulders no lower than their hips."
Here, Ciscernos is advocating for the law to be abolished. "This rule about head below the hips, I didn't even know it existed until I started researching this article. I don't think many people realise it is a rule. I've never, ever seen a free-kick given for it in all the rugby I have watched."
"For starters, it would be a difficult rule to enforce probably if they are going to be serious about it. To work out whether a player has his head below his hips, how stringent are you going to be? The main one. for me, is having your head up in a ruck is probably going to be more dangerous."
Ultimately, it comes down to minor change for major improvements: "There are various things that could be tweaked in their interpretation to allow for a better competition and a safer competition."
You can watch the full show here, or listen to it here and on all good podcast services. You can read Ben Cisneros' article in full here.
