Follow-up question on "Can anyone explain how to ruck"?

Question

When a player is tackled in the open field without a teammate present, must he release the ball immediately and, if so, can the tackler or one of tackler's teammate reach in and pick up the ball? What are the options to prevent a turnover of possession?

Answer 1

ask your coach i have no clue

Answer 2

This depends on whether the ball carrier has been held to ground or not. If the tackler has successfully held the player to the ground then the ball carrier has about a 3 second window to play the ball. In this sense 'playing the ball' can mean:

- Placing it on the ground in any direction

- Passing it off the ground to a teammate nearby

- Forcefully rolling the ball back to their team

Based on how the player actually deals with the ball after the tackle then the tackler (or an opposition player) may not have a chance to recover the ball as it will have moved on.

If we take the simplest situation and say that the ball carrier has placed the ball back towards his own team, then the tackler can recover the ball by:

- Getting to his feet

- retreating back to an onside position (the gate)

- and coming to recover the ball

Technically step 2 above is not required under the Law, but many refs will be extremely pedantic about this (as the ruck rules tend to confuse even the pros!), and will call offside for anything even remotely not onside... the easiest way to avoid this is by coming through the 'gate' to recover the ball.

The same procedure should be used by any of the tacklers team mates in the event that they recover the ball (obviously they don't have to get to their feet though).

In order to prevent a turnover, one of the simplest solutions is to hold onto the ball for the full three seconds, rather than 'using' immediately. This gives you the time to asses your options and control the ball when you release it (immediately placing the ball can result in a higher percentage of handling errors). Doing this also gives your team the opportunity to create a ruck situation, where 99% of the time you should be able to win the ball back.

Otherwise you just have to drill support into your team, and make sure that single players are never isolated. Working in 'pods' of 2 -3 players can help ensure that there is always more than one player with the ball carrier, and this will create ruck and maul situations much faster than if a player is even slightly isolated, creating a slight advantage for the team that has possession.

If the ball carrier has not been held to ground (think a league tackle), then they can simply get back to their feet and continue to play.

Answer 3

uh it would seem that he should just run for the end zone....

Answer 4

yes you must release the ball... within a second.  you may be able to "offload the ball" as you go down or do a pop pass in the slit second if you have a teammate near you.  the tackler can grab the ball (also called poaching) after you are on the ground.  one way to attempt to prevent a clean grab is by reaching as far back toward your team as you can to place the ball.  as soon as you have let go of the ball, you should be trying to get back up and you can grab the ball once you are on your feet again... you just have to be quicker than your opposision.  

there are other options, other than getting tackled in open field...  you could kick the ball up and over your opponents head, you could try to stay up and begin a maul (as long as your teammates are not too far away), you could go in and drive and place the ball between your legs (if it is only one opponent and your teammates are on their way and nearby).  you may just run right over your tackler if you get low...my coach always says... drop your a55 and grab some grass... and as you go into contact with ball.... base, ball, bat.... keep your base low and wide, tuck your ball in the arm that you wont be making contact with, and use your other arm as a bat- like a battering ram- put it up and either grab the jersey of the opponent to direct them or approach with a strong (not straight stiff) arm and drive with short steps.  

if you are the tackler, make sure that when you tackle, you continue your momentum with short little steps to prevent the ball carrier from landing ontop of you during the tackle.  your goal is to kind of float over your tackled player and quickly get on your feet, stepping over your opponent to get the ball.  if the ball carrier goes down witht he ball while you are still on your feet.  step over and poach the ball by scooping it back towrds you and the downed player- you will either get possession of the ball or draw the penalty of the down player because he is hanign onto the ball.

Answer 5

If tackled to the ground and held in the tackle, the tackled player must release or immediately place or move the ball behind them. No player can touch the ball until the tackled player has done this.

If not held you can get back up and go for it.

You must be on your feet to pick the ball up. The first guys to the tackle ball will decide the best option, pick it up and go, fire out a pass,or  form a ruck or maul. These decisions will be made with consideration to field position and the strengths and weaknesses of each team, and are often decided in advance as part of a set play or tactic.

Many of the rucks and tackled ball areas in a game occur in the same places and involve the same people game after game after game - may seem random, but it's really a highly organised art form.

Few teams in possession want the ruck to form unless they are fat, tired rolly polly men wearing white and red jumpers.

Rucks slow the game down. Some teams are very good at trapping the ball in the ruck - which means the scrum goes against the team in possession at the start of the ruck.

In other words they use the ruck to kill the ball and prevent attacking play - and get a turn over. Ridiculous !

Some of the new rules being trialled in the southern hemisphere are aimed at resolving this and other issues surrounding the tackled ball area.

Rolly polly men making the attacking style of game blunt by lying on the ball will hopefully be a thing of the past by 2011.

Answer 6

you could KILL yourself!

Answer 7

He has to release the ball immediately, or he can hold on to the ball, and wait until the referee tells him to release it (not the best option, you can get a penalty). usually if the person who has been tackled is on the ground and no teammates are near him, then the tacklers teammates will usually pick up the ball. the best way to prevent this is to have the wingers, or fastest members of the team chase after their teammate who has made a big run

Answer 8

Yeah, a player has to release the ball if they've been tackled and are on the floor. Any other player can pick the ball up as long as a ruck hasn't been formed. Rucks have a lot of rules governing them but the main ones are that you have to enter from the back and you can't use your hands. The main objective is to get the ball back to your scrum half.

Basically, if you're first to arrive at a tackle you have to decide whether to pick the ball up or to start a ruck.

Answer 9

The tackled player can get up and try to keep going util help arrives but if he stays on the ground he must release the ball, and when he does so the player who tackled him may reach over and take the ball.

Answer 10

In the situation you've described, the person tackled must release the ball.  The person who made the tackle can pick the ball up as soon as he regains his footing.  If another player from either side comes they can play the ball so long as they step over it.  As soon as there are 3 people involved the ruck is formed and it's hands off the ball.

In that situation the best thing to do is obviously not to get tackled.  A good fend-off or dummy pass is the best option to keep things going.  Assuming that those aren't an option, the best thing to do is off-load to a teammate coming on at pace.  This is one of the two reasons why it's good to run with support.  The other being in the event that the ruck forms, they'll be able to defend the ball

Answer 11

IDK