Quote Originally Posted by Gofer Blue View Post
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.