{"id":524536,"date":"2026-07-13T22:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/524536\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:19:09","slug":"rugby-laws-explained-chris-pollock-unpacks-nations-championship-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/524536\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby laws explained: Chris Pollock unpacks Nations Championship confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Varney had made the first contact with the ball (but had not maintained possession) and Love had made the second. The yellow card was rescinded and the first infringement was recognised \u2013 an Italian knock-on. <\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Pollock, in action during a Super Rugby match in 2013. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Chris Pollock says: \u201dThe Italian defender goes to catch the ball in the process of trying to regather it, it comes off his hand forward into Ruben Love.”<\/p>\n

The definition of a knock-on is: \u201cWhen a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.”<\/p>\n

\"RubenRuben Love during his short-lived stint in the sinbin during the match against Italy in Wellington. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

The first infringement there was the knock-on, hence why the slap-down was overruled.<\/p>\n

Lifting a player in open play <\/p>\n

The South Africa-Scotland test was a great test match that had its own contentious calls \u2013 and one particularly quirky moment. <\/p>\n

When Finn Russell restarted for Scotland after the Springboks\u2019 first try, Cobus Wiese was lifted by Boan Venter to receive the kickoff \u2013 which he caught inside the 22. Venter then appeared to almost lose control of his teammate and ran forward to steady him above his head. He took four steps forward with Wiese hoisted in the air before bringing him to ground and propelling him through the Scottish chasers \u2013 who all appealed to the referee. After all, they cannot play a man in the air.<\/p>\n

\"BoanBoan Venter holds Cobus Wiese above his head after successfully receiving the kick off. The burly prop then marched forward carrying Wiese to the protest of the Scots. Photo \/ Sky Sport<\/p>\n

Chris Pollock: The top official says this comes under Law 9.26 \u2013 Foul Play (Lifting in open play).<\/p>\n

\u201cIn open play, any player may lift or support a teammate. Players who do so must lower that player to the ground safely as soon as the ball is won by either team.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sanction: Free kick.<\/p>\n

Ball hitting corner flag <\/p>\n

The England-Fiji match was one-sided \u2013 but it also had its share of curiosities. The first came in just the sixth minute at Everton FC\u2019s home ground, when England first five-eighths Fin Smith kicked wide for Tommy Freeman. The ball took a wicked bounce and eluded both Freeman and Fijian fullback Salesi Rayasi, before striking the corner flag and rolling back into the field of play for quick-thinking England fullback Marcus Smith to score. Rayasi, having seen the ball strike the flag, believed the ball was dead \u2013 as would have many viewers.<\/p>\n

Chris Pollock says: \u201dWhen the ball hits the corner flag\/post, it is not automatically in touch. The key part is where does the ball bounce next. If it bounces into the field of play or into [the] in-goal, play continues. If the ball bounces out or on to the touchline or touch in-goal line, it is considered out.” <\/p>\n

Less controversial was a straight red card for Fijian halfback Simione Kuruvoli for kicking England prop Ellis Genge just before halftime.<\/p>\n

\"AA kick from England playmaker Fin Smith ricocheted off the corner post, back into the field of play for Marcus Smith to score against Fiji. Photo \/ Sky Sport<\/p>\n

Ball out of a ruck <\/p>\n

Many viewers could be forgiven for wondering when exactly a ball is considered to be \u201cout\u201d of a ruck these days. Halfbacks seem to be given more and more protection when the ball sits at the back of the ruck while laser-focused opposition forwards are poised to attack.<\/p>\n

During the Argentina-Wales match, one example saw the home team told to hold their defensive line while the ball sat beyond the last Welsh foot.<\/p>\n

Chris Pollock says: \u201cThe ball is out of a ruck when it is outside the \u2018confines\u2019 of the ruck (players on the ground) … and no player in the ruck has his foot over the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WhenWhen is a ball out of a ruck? Photo \/ Sky Sport<\/p>\n

Players on knee(s) when making a tackle <\/p>\n

Defensive lines seem to be on a hiding to nothing when trying to repel wave after wave of forwards on their goal-line \u2013 they have to tackle low to prevent the ball carrier from pushing their way through to the tryline. But can they defend with a knee on the ground?<\/p>\n

Chris Pollock says: \u201cPlayers must be on their feet to make a tackle, as per law 13.3 (c). They are considered to be off their feet if any other part of their body is supported by the ground eg a knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law 13.3(c): A player on the ground in the field of play, without the ball, is out of the game and must not tackle or attempt to tackle an opponent.<\/p>\n

Sanction: Penalty. <\/p>\n

Off feet: \u201cPlayers are off their feet when any other part of the body is supported by the ground or players on the ground.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mike Thorpe<\/a> is a senior multimedia journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Varney had made the first contact with the ball (but had not maintained possession) and Love had made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2840,27299,18239,3276,15414,19061,7794,8650,45206,33450,12472,13085,17154,208445,111,139,42876,69,180354,28257,18833,6327,8466,101582,544,213,765,1361,60048,14005,140847,35143,6436],"class_list":["post-524536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-across","tag-arent","tag-championship","tag-chris","tag-confusing","tag-confusion","tag-contentious","tag-explained","tag-highlighting","tag-known","tag-laws","tag-matches","tag-nations","tag-necessarily","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-numerous","tag-nz","tag-pollock","tag-quirky","tag-round","tag-rugby","tag-second","tag-situations","tag-some","tag-sports","tag-test","tag-that","tag-threw","tag-times","tag-understood","tag-unpacks","tag-well"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}