"[iIf he saw something that warranted him entering the field of play, then he should have had the courage of his convictions to bring it to the attention of the referee.[/i"



I think that the standards of officials in general are pretty inconsistent, but I do think the use of technology can sometimes hinder rather than help their case as far as the crowd is concerned. For example, with the officials being "miked up" the crowd doesn't actually have a clue what the touch judge is saying to the referee on what he may or may not have seen - whereas if he actually entered the field of play we'd at least know something was happening.



Conversely, not using the technology also can also add to the frustration. Witness the anger from the crowd over Hodgson being off-side from Brough's kick to the corner. We all screamed at the ref because he didn't know what he was doing. Then at half time everyone came back from the concourses having seen the Sky coverage and finding that actually he was on-side after all. Fair play to Monsieur Alibert for the courage of his convictions, but he'd have had much less aggro from the crowd if he'd gone to the screen for all to see.

I thought that, I know we had knocked on but that tackle was really high and would have been a penalty normally so why not on that occasion?

seeing as our ball retention is so bad, once we've knocked on we should attempt to muller the opposition, they'll get the scrum but quickly run out of replacements

It's a blight on the game in general. Gone are the days when we used to laugh at Onion for their blatant disregard for this particular law. It's a joke frankly.

I know it's the 'forward pass' rule, clearly the rule states (using differing words) that a players own momentum may make it look like the ball goes forward. It is this forward momentum of the player which is also imparted onto the ball, if it was not the case then either the player is passing it forward standing still (i.e. no forward momentum) or the pass has gone backwards in any case(as in the ball does not travel toward the goal line of the defence beyond the point of release even with a player running forward)

How you cannot see that this cearly describes how momentum has an effect on the physical dynamics of the balls motion I don't know. Thus by definition the passage from the RFLs own 'rules of the game' described a momentum rule which is borne in Physics which are undeniable whichever way you want to interpret it.

So although the RFL do not call it a momentum rule, it clearly is. FACT

Nope. The rule clearly states that the ball can travel forwards relative to the ground as long as it leaves the hands of the passing player in a backwards direction.





It's actually the velocity of the player which is transferred to the ball and the ball's momentum which will make it continue to travel in the direction the player was running even though he threw it backwards. The player's momentum is irrelevant.

The flat pass is a lazy way of saying it was forward so the refs and linesmen take no notice ..

To say a forward pass cannot be seen or pick up by the video refs is lazy they just have to see the way the ball

leave the hands of the player passing the ball ..ps I can spot a forward pass when the game I am listening to on radio

(fact )

Er, you kinda described exactly what I said, "forward momentum of the player which is also imparted onto the ball". However the term velocity is incorrect in this instance as that does not solely define momentum (velocity is a measure of change of direction & speed). to obtain momentum you need mass as well hence why momentum is the correct term in this case.

It is the forward momentum of the player (his velocity AND mass) that acts on the ball, imparting the literal forward motion of such, without this forward momentum (A player standing still) the ball will travel in the direction imparted by the player in direct relation to the ground with zero momentum.

Either way it is a momentum rule just not labelled as such.

Have a read of [url=http://viewtopic.php?t=431158&start=0this old thread[/url, especially this post:

Anyway, irrespective of the laws of physics, brough was running sideways and his hands were facing forward when he passed both times

Got to agree with the OP on both the pass and the apparent uselessness of the touch judges

Anyone wanting a detailed explaination of the so called 'momentum rule' should go to youtube and search for 'Rugby Union "Forward Pass" video. It gives you a referees training video and trys to explain the physics involved in passing the ball.