Post by rus on May 10, 2007 18:57:44 GMT -5
Here's something I didn't know. The PTB was borrowed from RU & it pre-dates the R & M. The maul was only formalized into union's rules in 1969 when the words "a maul ends a tackle" was added.
Sean Fagan explains it here:
www.rl1908.com/History/play-the-ball.htm
...Despite the protests of many who chided that ignoring the down and held rules was not rugby, the rucks and mauls soon became signature features of the sport (though the maul was not regularised by law until in 1969 when "a maul ends a tackle" was added).
Accepted lore has told us that rugby league ("play-the-ball") and American football ("down" / line of scrimmage) introduced these methods as a means to re-start play in an effort to avoid the so-called scrappy and unappealing rucks and mauls in rugby union.
Yet these methods of re-starting play pre-date the prevalence of rucks and mauls in rugby union.
The answer lies further back in time. It is readily apparent that the "down" in American football and the "play-the-ball" in rugby league are merely a continuation of the original "down", "held" and "play the ball" rules of 19th century rugby union.
The terms "down" and "play the ball" are old rugby union expressions - they were not invented by American football and rugby league (respectively). By way of confirmation, one only needs to momentarily watch these two codes today to witness the tackled, "down" and "held" rules of 19th century rugby union still in operation today. [Putting aside that both codes have removed any contest for possession of the ball in the down or play-the-ball.]
What previously hasn't been recognised is that the "play-the-ball" introduced into rugby league in 1906 was not an innovation at all, but was taken from rugby union. Indeed, The Yorkshire Post reported the change as "in effect a return to the 'play the ball' rule".
The "play-the-ball" (together with the "markers" and "dummy-half"), in its pure form, is a stream-lined loose scrum. Before 1906, rugby league was using the RFU's "down" law and there was no rucking and mauling - this is confirmed by the presence of the "held" call in rugby union at the time.
Rugby league adopted the "play-the-ball" to minimise the scale and duration of scrums, not to overcome rucking and mauling (as they largely didn't exist). Recently found film footage of English rugby league (c.1903) confirms scrums were being formed after every tackle or when a player was held with the ball....
Sean Fagan explains it here:
www.rl1908.com/History/play-the-ball.htm
...Despite the protests of many who chided that ignoring the down and held rules was not rugby, the rucks and mauls soon became signature features of the sport (though the maul was not regularised by law until in 1969 when "a maul ends a tackle" was added).
Accepted lore has told us that rugby league ("play-the-ball") and American football ("down" / line of scrimmage) introduced these methods as a means to re-start play in an effort to avoid the so-called scrappy and unappealing rucks and mauls in rugby union.
Yet these methods of re-starting play pre-date the prevalence of rucks and mauls in rugby union.
The answer lies further back in time. It is readily apparent that the "down" in American football and the "play-the-ball" in rugby league are merely a continuation of the original "down", "held" and "play the ball" rules of 19th century rugby union.
The terms "down" and "play the ball" are old rugby union expressions - they were not invented by American football and rugby league (respectively). By way of confirmation, one only needs to momentarily watch these two codes today to witness the tackled, "down" and "held" rules of 19th century rugby union still in operation today. [Putting aside that both codes have removed any contest for possession of the ball in the down or play-the-ball.]
What previously hasn't been recognised is that the "play-the-ball" introduced into rugby league in 1906 was not an innovation at all, but was taken from rugby union. Indeed, The Yorkshire Post reported the change as "in effect a return to the 'play the ball' rule".
The "play-the-ball" (together with the "markers" and "dummy-half"), in its pure form, is a stream-lined loose scrum. Before 1906, rugby league was using the RFU's "down" law and there was no rucking and mauling - this is confirmed by the presence of the "held" call in rugby union at the time.
Rugby league adopted the "play-the-ball" to minimise the scale and duration of scrums, not to overcome rucking and mauling (as they largely didn't exist). Recently found film footage of English rugby league (c.1903) confirms scrums were being formed after every tackle or when a player was held with the ball....
