I really hope Gagger's info on mauls being refed properly at RWC is on the money 'cos I fucking hate them. As soon as the lineout jumper unloads to a pod of waiting players who then use he & his blockers/ supports as a screen.... Obstruction, penalty defending team; as soon as the guy holding the ball at the back ceases binding with a full arm.... Obstruction, penalty defending team. Simples.
As I've said previously, if there was only one ELV kept it should've been the one allowing a maul to be taken to ground. I'm also of the view that a defender, having joined legally & provided he maintains a full-arm bind, should be allowed to "swim" around the side & target the ball-carrier; and that a player trying to work his way to the ball-carrier via the direct route shouldn't have to worry about his head being targeted.
Our game is meant to be about the contest for possession, it really shits me that we've somehow ended up with this one thing where a contest is all but impossible. It needs to either be outlawed or made so hard to do that 99% of the time no-one will bother.
Lastly I'm really surprised that the NH would contemplate refing the rolling maul properly as they seem to love them up there as much a certain teams do down our ways. Only explanation I can think of is they're worried the SH teams may be better at it than them............
