Review of ‘no ruck’ tactics possible

World Rugby is considering whether to review the laws governing the breakdown in light of the tactics used by Italy against England at Twickenham on Sunday.

England coach Eddie Jones was infuriated by the Azzurri’s strategy of refusing to compete for possession after a tackle had been made, thereby ensuring no ruck was formed and there was no offside line.

It meant Italy were legitimately able to swarm over the RBS 6 Nations champions from all directions as they sought to use the ball.

England ultimately emerged 36-15 winners, but an angry Jones said of the ploy, “If that’s rugby, I’m going to retire”, adding that the laws must be revised or the game will “cease to be rugby”.

The tackle and ruck are already being examined as part of an ongoing review of the laws that was initiated after the 2015 World Cup, but World Rugby may decide Sunday’s events warrant further investigation.

Conor O’Shea’s Italy acted within the laws, which were correctly officiated by referee Romain Poite, and the tactics used have been evident in other games at Test and club level, although never in such wholesale fashion.

Unions are able to submit a clarification request over laws, but it is understood that the Rugby Football Union will not be raising the issue as a matter of urgency and will instead opt to handle it via the regular discussions that already take place with World Rugby.

“World Rugby regularly issue clarifications on various laws, so they could decide to do this anyway due to the interest generated by (Sunday’s) match,” an RFU spokeswoman said.

One of the sport’s most respected thinkers has rejected Jones’ call for the laws to be changed, claiming the tactics used by Italy can be exploited.

Wayne Smith, who was a part of New Zealand’s coaching team for their back-toback World Cup wins, experimented with the approach once when at the Waikato Chiefs but never revisited it.

The clash at Twickenham is the first time they have been used for the entirety of a top-level match, and Smith believes any team employing them in a similar fashion regularly would get “cut to bits”.

“It’s a roll of the dice in many ways,” Smith told Fairfax Media in New Zealand.

“There’s an obvious weakness in that you can pull out of the tackle and put no-one else in, but it’s hard to avoid them pulling you in.

“So if someone over the ball grabs hold of you, all of a sudden the ruck has been formed and the defensive line has to go back.

“I don’t think it requires a law change. The law says you require one from each team over the ball bound together to create a ruck. I can’t see them changing that.

“It’s not an anomaly in the law – it’s just a part of the game, a shock tactic that a team might use now and again, but certainly if you became predictable by doing it you’d be cut to bits.”

England captain Dylan Hartley seeks clarification from referee Romain Poite during Sunday’s game with Italy.