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Thread: When is a forward pass not forward?

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    Player rick boyd's Avatar
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    When is a forward pass not forward?

    Following on from a comment in the analysis of Kaplan's rulings during the Aus-NZ test last week, I thought it might be interesting and even instructive to examine exactly what constitutes a forward pass.

    The rugby law book says "a throw forward occurs when a player throws or passes the ball forward. "Forward" means towards the opposing team's dead ball line"."

    You will note the laws do not say a throw forward occurs when a player passes the ball and it ends up closer to the opposing team's dead ball line.

    The difference?

    As we saw in the Aus-NZ test, the ball can travel forward -- be caught at a place further down the pitch than the point from which it was passed -- but not be a forward pass.

    How is that possible? Ask a physcist for the technical explanantion, but in layman's term, it goes like this: If the player is running forward at speed carrying the ball, the ball is also travelling forward at the same speed. When the player lets go of the ball, it does not come to a sudden halt. It keeps travelling forward under its own momentum.

    As long as the player directs the ball sideways or backwards with his hands, it is entirely legal for the ball to travel forward provided it does so under its own momentum and not from any forward motion imparted by the player's hands.

    So don't waste your time looking at pitch markings to see whether the ball was further down the field when it was caught. Look at the pitch markings, if you can, to see whether the ball left the player's hands in a forward direction, or sideways or backwards. After that, it can go where it likes.

    Feeling sorry for the poor mugs who volunteer to be refs yet?

    Try this point on people who think they know a bit about rugby. You can have some great arguments with the pedantically minded.

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    yeah so in sense as long as the ball doesn't over take the thrower, most forward passes thrown at a high speed run will end up ahead of the point where it was released...

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    Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.

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    Veteran Contributor frontrow's Avatar
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    Nine times out of ten the ref is behind the play so has to make line ball calls, or gets the nod from the touchies. Either way, Kaplan still sucks!!!!!

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    Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.

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    Player Contributor Flat-top's Avatar
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    When thrown by an All Black. Debate over, thread locked and closed!

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    Legend Contributor Flamethrower's Avatar
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    So thats why it is so hard to hit road sign's with empty stubbies

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    Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

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    Legend Contributor brokendown gunfighter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Flamethrower
    So thats why it is so hard to hit road sign's with empty stubbies
    .22 bullets don't seem to miss though

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    Rick makes an interesting point. When you start refffing they show you this video from the QRU where various passes are conducted on a grid so you can clearly see the flight of the ball. This issue is that this is not practical.
    In many games I have seen the ball been thrown in a "looping fashion" where the thrower propels the ball in a spiining action to a player behind him. The ball goes forward but the intention is to pass it backwards. If the player catching the ball does so behind the throwing player, play on. If he is in lin with the throwing player, play on. If he is in fron of the thrower when he takes the pass, it's forward. They key is for the Ref to be running in line with the ball to correctly judge the flight and intent.

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