Law Discussion: the standing tackle
Tackle is a difficult word in that it can have more than one meaning.
The man on the touch line exhorting his team to tackle, means grab hold of the opponent so that he stops doing what he would like to do. Tackle in the Laws of the game has a precise meaning.
When the man shouts 'Tackle low' he means below the waist. A high tackle to him is above the waist and, while it may be reprehensible, it is not till it is above the shoulders that the law says it is dangerous and penalisable.
As tackle varies, so does tackler. It is possible to have a tackle without a tackler in terms of the law. In fact the laws first used the word 'tackle' in 1910. Before that, dating back to 1866, it used the word 'held' with no expansion on the meaning of the word. Its use brings me to the present.
In the World Rugby's Sevens series in Dubai and Port Elizabeth there were incidents that harked back to 1866. Three times in matches in those two events a player was penalised for not releasing a ball-carrier when both players were standing upright and on another occasion a player was instructed to release the ball-carrier when both were standing up. In this last case the ball-carrier was released and able to play the ball back to his side. We shall come back to that in terms of today's laws.
In 1866, the Laws of the Game as played at Rugby School in Warwickshire read: "Maul outside goal-line takes place when a player holding the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side, and if he cannot get free or give the ball to some other of his own side (not in front of him) who can run with it, he calls 'have it down'." If it was then put down, a scrum was formed.
In 1905 'held' got a definition: Held is when a player carrying the ball cannot pass it. In 1910 a tackle was defined: "A 'tackle' is when the holder of the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side, so that he cannot pass or play it."
Till 1937, there was no suggestion that a tackle included bringing the ball-carrier to ground. The law in 1937 said: "Tackle. Amend: A tackle occurs when the holder of the ball in the field of play is held by one or more players of the opposing team so that while he is so held the ball comes into contact with the ground, or there is a moment where he cannot pass or play the ball."
In 1977 the standing tackle was done away with (1) in order to delete the provisions for a standing tackle (2) because existing law is difficult to implement because the tackle usually develops quickly into a maul and in the hope that (3) the alteration should result in more consistent refereeing.
In 1981 a change was made to bring the law closer to what it is now: "A tackle occurs when a player carrying the ball in the field of play is held by one or more opponents so that while he is so held he is brought to the ground or the ball comes into contact with the ground. If the ball carrier is no longer on his feet he is deemed to have been brought to the ground."
But what is relevant to our discussion is the 1977 removal of the standing tackle, which was never really anything of great importance – till Sevens 2014, it seemed.
This is the definition applying in 2014.
Law 15 Tackle: Ball-Carrier Brought to Ground
DEFINITIONS
A tackle occurs when the ball-carrier is held by one or more opponents and is brought to ground.
A ball-carrier who is not held is not a tackled player and a tackle has not taken place.
This is what 'brought to ground" means.
Law 15.3 BROUGHT TO THE GROUND DEFINED –
(a) If the ball-carrier has one knee or both knees on the ground, that player has been ‘brought to ground’.
The salient point is that to be tackled a player must be brought to ground. If he is not brought to ground, there is no tackle.
This applies equally to Sevens rugby. There is no Seven-a-side variation that makes any change to the tackle.
There is nothing in World Rugby's clarifications or guidelines to suggest any change. For a tackle to occur, a ball-carrier must be held by an opponent and brought to ground.
If the player who brings the opponent to ground also goes to ground, he is a tackler. If he does not go to ground, he is not, by definition, a tackler.
Law 15 DEFINITIONS
Opposition players who hold the ball-carrier and bring that player to ground, and who also go to ground, are known as tacklers.
Opposition players who hold the ball-carrier and do not go to ground are not tacklers.
And so you can have a tackle without a tackler!
At a tackle, the tackled player must be given the chance to release the ball so that the tackled player can play the ball. The player who does the tackling is required to release the tackled player who in turn must play the ball.
It is just strange that in three different Sevens matches, three different referees played a stand-up tackle as a tackle – pre-1977 stuff – when no part of the held player, other than his feet, made contact with the ground.
