Thursday 23 March 2017 11:40, UK
Two weeks ago I wrote about the inconsistency in the rules for quick restarts and one observant fan replied.
He agreed in principle with what I had to say - let me state before I go on, I'm not a fan of restarting play with a tap instead of a scrum after a 40/20 kick, so my comments are slightly biased by that view.
If the player can sprint to restart play when a kick rolls over the dead-ball line, why can't he/she do that when it rolls over the touch line for a 40/20?
We then need the referee and touch judges to sprint into position and allow play to continue.
If the aim of restarting with a tap instead of a scrum was to speed up the game, what will the referee do if the attacking team have the ball in their hands and are ready to go?
Quicker isn't always better but you can't have one rule that allows quick restarts at one end of the field if you don't stick to the same principles at the other.
It might look chaotic, and it's not what I want to see, but can you imagine the scrambling sprint race that will start to take place after a 40/20? I am sure that a team will attempt this sooner or later.
I'm watching with interest what impact another rule change has at present - the zero tackle when a ball is kicked over the dead-ball line. I doubt that it will make a big difference but let's wait and see.
Some coaches tell me that it's making a big change and the extra tackle or play that your team has will be significant.
Effectively, with that extra play you have a tap 30-metre restart which allows you to get a bit closer to your opponents' try line at the end of your set of possession, assuming that you haven't made a handling error or been awarded a penalty.
Last season four per cent of all tries were scored when the set of possession began with a tap on the 20-metre line. So far this year, it's exactly the same.
There may be other benefits but I haven't seen them yet.
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