Has anyone noticed the ammount of holdng down after the tackle is completed?

a few times were we would have loved a quick play the ball but can because the other team are holding down?

seriously slowing our "roll on" when we get the momentum going.

I often count to five before the tacklers release the player. It may be acceptable late in a game when the forwards are tired but not in the first 60 minutes.

When I trained as a ref, I was repeatedly told that if the players do not let go after I called "held", it was a penalty. I was also told that a back had no excuse in holding on but, in the final limits, allow a forward a bit of leeway to roll away.

I feel refs are now worried that they have got back 10 metres (





) and that the player has not been stopped and could get the ball out (with HIS elbows on the turf!!!!

). I.E poor refereeing.

You'll notice in a lot of SL games that where you get two or three players affecting a tackle that the one that controls the head ( ie he goes nowhere without his head) will look toward the ref.

The idea being that if or when he sees the ref start to move the whistle hand arm toward his mouth he will THEN release him very briskly.

Obviously refs are probably under pressure yo let the game flow.

This has been coached for years in the pro game. How do I know? because my eldest lad was coached to do exactly that years ago.

All coaches are looking to slow the play the ball down for very obvious tactical reasons - hence the advent of wrestling coaches at clubs now.

It's obvious that wrestling coaching will improve players upper body strength and utilise this to good advantage.

I agree that it is a really annoying facet of our game at the moment (along with hands in at the tackle and obvious and some not so obvious stripping of the ball).

The frustrating thing about about lying on is that there doesn't appear to be any consistency in penalising in either game to game, team to team and in fact ref to ref.

It really needs sorting out for the benefit of us all.

All the best BD.

Do referees also do wrestling reffing courses.

By the looks of some of them NO.

I must admit the pictures conjured up of Steve Ganson writhing around the floor with Thierry Halibert and glaring up each others a-holes is not one I want to dwell on

Please don't tell me that Sean McRae is or was a wrestling coach! in a former role .........that would be too much!!



You wicked, wicked man.

The players wait until the ref shouts move.

Noticed on Friday that Cas held the foot and pivoted the player round. I thought this was illegal.

We do exactly the same on the tackle (holding down), it's a problem that needs sorting across the board.

I can confirm McRae has roots in the wrestling game, and found this piccie to prove it...




Too much time on my hands, obviously...

as the rfl scraped the profesional foul ruling cos we dont seem to see players gettin sent to the sin bin anymre for a profs foul ad there was a couple of times i thought cas held down after we half broke the line and we got the penalty but no sin bin think we need the refs to be reminded about the profs foul ruling and start doing something abowt it

Sorry to reanimate this post - have you seen the postings on VT? Several posts seem to suggest that it is a) an inherent part of the game and b) an area we need to perfect to beat the Aussies.

Sadly this is contrary to my attitudes to the game but the arguments are there. It suggests that Bomber's game plan is what we need.