Wales v England

[Gofer Blue]

I have some sympathy with the one controversial incident, if you want to call it that, when the ref told Farrell to have a word with his players. But what’s wrong with the try where Zammit drops the ball that then comes off his leg that then gets picked up for a try. He mishandled but can it be a knock on if it has come off his leg, with the ball then going backwards anyway?

I’m a casual viewer and liked the game when I was younger and have a broadly decent hang of the rules, as they were then, although age obviously takes its toll of course!

There was one replay which showed that even before the ref blew his whistle for the game to restart England's players are already starting to spread out across the field, albeit sluggishly. A classic case of play the whistle!

This is one of the issues I have with rugby - every stoppage takes an age and takes all the momentum out of the game. I'm actually beginning to dislike the game now because of this, combined with the myriad of petty rules, and only watch the Wales games anyway, more out of a sense of patriotism than anything else. Two examples:

1. Line outs. A player kicks a long ball down field and it goes into touch. The rules allow an opposing player to take a quick throw in to another member of his team which gets the game underway immediately and also means that his side have guaranteed possession of the ball, unlike the normal lineout. How often do we see this? Very rarely.

2. Tap penalties. This used to be a common move when a team is pressing the opposition back into their own 22 and gets the game going again. Hardly ever see it these days.

If there are any rugby experts on here then I stand to be corrected!

[delmbox]

There was one replay which showed that even before the ref blew his whistle for the game to restart England's players are already starting to spread out across the field, albeit sluggishly. A classic case of play the whistle!

This is one of the issues I have with rugby - every stoppage takes an age and takes all the momentum out of the game. I'm actually beginning to dislike the game now because of this, combined with the myriad of petty rules, and only watch the Wales games anyway, more out of a sense of patriotism than anything else. Two examples:

1. Line outs. A player kicks a long ball down field and it goes into touch. The rules allow an opposing player to take a quick throw in to another member of his team which gets the game underway immediately and also means that his side have guaranteed possession of the ball, unlike the normal lineout. How often do we see this? Very rarely.

2. Tap penalties. This used to be a common move when a team is pressing the opposition back into their own 22 and gets the game going again. Hardly ever see it these days.

If there are any rugby experts on here then I stand to be corrected!

didn't we score from a tap penalty yesterday?

[Madassa]

There was one replay which showed that even before the ref blew his whistle for the game to restart England's players are already starting to spread out across the field, albeit sluggishly. A classic case of play the whistle!

This is one of the issues I have with rugby - every stoppage takes an age and takes all the momentum out of the game. I'm actually beginning to dislike the game now because of this, combined with the myriad of petty rules, and only watch the Wales games anyway, more out of a sense of patriotism than anything else. Two examples:

1. Line outs. A player kicks a long ball down field and it goes into touch. The rules allow an opposing player to take a quick throw in to another member of his team which gets the game underway immediately and also means that his side have guaranteed possession of the ball, unlike the normal lineout. How often do we see this? Very rarely.

2. Tap penalties. This used to be a common move when a team is pressing the opposition back into their own 22 and gets the game going again. Hardly ever see it these days.

If there are any rugby experts on here then I stand to be corrected!

The Ref did them no favours but England were very lackadaisical. In one shot it shows that the Eng players on the other side of the pitch from the try were nearly all in position BEFORE the Ref blows for time on. Watson sprints to his touchline facing the kick, while Ford saunters over to the other touch looking away, head down and Jonny May is nowhere. They really only have themselves to blame

[xsnaggle]

There was one replay which showed that even before the ref blew his whistle for the game to restart England's players are already starting to spread out across the field, albeit sluggishly. A classic case of play the whistle!

This is one of the issues I have with rugby - every stoppage takes an age and takes all the momentum out of the game. I'm actually beginning to dislike the game now because of this, combined with the myriad of petty rules, and only watch the Wales games anyway, more out of a sense of patriotism than anything else. Two examples:

1. Line outs. A player kicks a long ball down field and it goes into touch. The rules allow an opposing player to take a quick throw in to another member of his team which gets the game underway immediately and also means that his side have guaranteed possession of the ball, unlike the normal lineout. How often do we see this? Very rarely.

2. Tap penalties. This used to be a common move when a team is pressing the opposition back into their own 22 and gets the game going again. Hardly ever see it these days.

If there are any rugby experts on here then I stand to be corrected!

Just a little rider to point 1. The quick throw can only be taken if no one else touches the ball between it entering touch and the player throwing it to a team mate. That means literally anyone, not just another player. It is why you see home team ball boys rushing to get the ball to 'help'. In reality he is stopping that quick throw.
It's one of the reasons why you don't see it too often.

[light up the darkness]

Just a little rider to point 1. The quick throw can only be taken if no one else touches the ball between it entering touch and the player throwing it to a team mate. That means literally anyone, not just another player. It is why you see home team ball boys rushing to get the ball to 'help'. In reality he is stopping that quick throw.
It's one of the reasons why you don't see it too often.

Unless you’re Mike Phillips

https://youtu.be/4YyXTwe6eSw

[Gofer Blue]

Just a little rider to point 1. The quick throw can only be taken if no one else touches the ball between it entering touch and the player throwing it to a team mate. That means literally anyone, not just another player. It is why you see home team ball boys rushing to get the ball to 'help'. In reality he is stopping that quick throw.
It's one of the reasons why you don't see it too often.

Thanks for that, so yet another petty rule that I was not aware of!

[light up the darkness]

There was one replay which showed that even before the ref blew his whistle for the game to restart England's players are already starting to spread out across the field, albeit sluggishly. A classic case of play the whistle!

This is one of the issues I have with rugby - every stoppage takes an age and takes all the momentum out of the game. I'm actually beginning to dislike the game now because of this, combined with the myriad of petty rules, and only watch the Wales games anyway, more out of a sense of patriotism than anything else. Two examples:

1. Line outs. A player kicks a long ball down field and it goes into touch. The rules allow an opposing player to take a quick throw in to another member of his team which gets the game underway immediately and also means that his side have guaranteed possession of the ball, unlike the normal lineout. How often do we see this? Very rarely.

2. Tap penalties. This used to be a common move when a team is pressing the opposition back into their own 22 and gets the game going again. Hardly ever see it these days.

If there are any rugby experts on here then I stand to be corrected!

I don’t claim to be an expert but happy to offer a couple of observations

If you watch the side that kicked it long the wing is always after it like shot to help prevent a quick throw in. There are fewer opportunities at professional level to take a quick throw in because of the way in which players are coached. The level of detail which the attack and defence coaches put into their respective roles is phenomenal.
Defending ball recovery. Exit strategies from different parts of he pitch. Specific Defensive alignment in broken play and from set pieces.
When a Wales player(s)make a tackle the first option is to attempt a turnover. If the ball is being cycled back to the opposition #9 defensive players disengage and sweep left or right depending on where the defence captain is reading that the next attacking play is coming.
1 Forward will defend either side of the breakdown. Called the gatekeeper. Remaining forwards on their feet deploy in 2/3 man pods.

When attacking Wales often line their forwards 1-1-2-2-2. One particular incident that highlighted this was in the first half when after the ball had passed through several pairs of hands Faletau received the ball in the outside centre position with only Tipuric outside him

Tap penalties are always an option if players in the defence switch off for a moment as on Saturday when Daly turned his back and the Wales #9 saw the gap open up with no full back watching. Coaches will not be happy if you take a quick penalty, run into tacklers and lose the ball or give away a penalty for not releasing. Dwayne Peel used to be very quick with taking quick penalties

I’ll tell you something you rarely or never see these days is a tap penalty where the ball is passed to an oncoming player for him to take the ball into contact. I guess it’s because there is a strong chance that possession will be lost.

I think that refereeing standards vary widely even at international level so refs are very influential especially in closer games.

The tackle/breakdown is poorly ref’d, badly coached and is an example of the shambles which turns off the less studious watcher.

[Gofer Blue]

I don’t claim to be an expert but happy to offer a couple of observations

If you watch the side that kicked it long the wing is always after it like shot to help prevent a quick throw in. There are fewer opportunities at professional level to take a quick throw in because of the way in which players are coached. The level of detail which the attack and defence coaches put into their respective roles is phenomenal.
Defending ball recovery. Exit strategies from different parts of he pitch. Specific Defensive alignment in broken play and from set pieces.
When a Wales player(s)make a tackle the first option is to attempt a turnover. If the ball is being cycled back to the opposition #9 defensive players disengage and sweep left or right depending on where the defence captain is reading that the next attacking play is coming.
1 Forward will defend either side of the breakdown. Called the gatekeeper. Remaining forwards on their feet deploy in 2/3 man pods.

When attacking Wales often line their forwards 1-1-2-2-2. One particular incident that highlighted this was in the first half when after the ball had passed through several pairs of hands Faletau received the ball in the outside centre position with only Tipuric outside him

Tap penalties are always an option if players in the defence switch off for a moment as on Saturday when Daly turned his back and the Wales #9 saw the gap open up with no full back watching. Coaches will not be happy if you take a quick penalty, run into tacklers and lose the ball or give away a penalty for not releasing. Dwayne Peel used to be very quick with taking quick penalties

I’ll tell you something you rarely or never see these days is a tap penalty where the ball is passed to an oncoming player for him to take the ball into contact. I guess it’s because there is a strong chance that possession will be lost.

I think that refereeing standards vary widely even at international level so refs are very influential especially in closer games.

The tackle/breakdown is poorly ref’d, badly coached and is an example of the shambles which turns off the less studious watcher.

Thanks for your comments. Yes, as one of the less studious/knowledgeable watchers I agree, a definite turn off.