If and when the ball is produced from a ruck or maul without
penalty, usually by the scrumhalf, the ball will most often be
passed to a forward charging back through the defense or to the
flyhalf who has pre-determined a course of action.
The flyhalf is the person normally determining all moves which the
backs will run. Once he has received the ball he will then start a
run, make a pass, or kick the ball. All of this must be done very
quickly as the opposing backs and forwards will be quickly rushing
up to tackle whomever has the ball.
The moves the backs run will include a number of different
manoeuvres and ploys to put the backs into open running space.
Common running tactics include loops, switches, dummies, and miss
passes. A loop is where a player will make a short pass to another
and then run around to the other side of that player to receive a
return pass. A switch is where two players will cross paths allowing
the ball carrier to pass behind himself to a runner running on a
different angle. A dummy is a faked pass to another runner freezing
or decoying the defender. A dummy switch is a switch where the ball
carrier does not pass the ball to the crossing runner. A miss pass
is a pass which is thrown past the first immediately available
supporting player to runners further past him.
When the ball is being run, a player tackled to the ground must
immediately release the ball (the defender tackling the runner must
release the runner after the tackle) making it available to both
teams. Typically the tackled player will attempt to place the ball
closest to his own supporting players. Those supporting players will
make a decision to pickup the loose ball or drive over the ball and
tackled player to bind together into a new ruck. The defending team
will do the same thing in an attempt to push the attacking team
backwards. If the ball is picked up and advanced again by either
side, a maul can quickly ensue if the advance is checked by the
defence and the ball does not go to the ground. Each time a
successive ruck or maul is set, it is described as a phase of play.
Once a player makes a break over the tryline, he must touch the ball
down to the ground to be awarded the 5 points for the try. If he
loses the ball in the dead ball area, the ball will come out and
play will be restarted with a 22 metre dropout. Often a player will
cross the tryline close to one of the touchlines and will turn back
towards the posts before touching down. This is done to provide a
better angle for the person attempting the conversion kick. The kick
for extra points must be taken from a mark perpendicular to the spot
where the try was touched down. Thus the kicker's job is typically
made much easier when the try is awarded centered between the posts.
The conversion kick is a place kick taken immediately after the try
and worth 2 points. The defending team must retreat behind the
tryline but can rush the kick once the kicker makes a move towards
the ball to kick it through the uprights
