Is it just me or did Ali Lautiti clearly lead with the elbow into Kearneys head knocking Kearney on his' arris,

Looked like it on the big screen but not watched the game back from sky+ yet ???

^ looked clean mate, he didn't point his elbow, it was tucked in, and extended his arm to push Kearney rather than strike him

While that certainly dsn't support my hunch it does seem to indicate you could score a try with your belly without having to touch it with an arm. Almost like a makeshift Big Daddy splash, if you will.

Glad you mentioned it. I thought that. Thanks for the validation.

Will watch it again tonight and have a butchers,

I know he didnt strike him with the elbow but looked like he lead with it which IIRC is a penalty offence,

Oh well we won anyway none the less so irrelevant really

Lauitiiti should be going to Red Hall over the attack to the head on Luke Gale when he was defenceless on the ground near the end of the game. Was mentioned on sky. Dirty coward.

If he did I am sure he will be.

I saw that - regardless of the size difference, I was soo wanting Gale to punch him from the ground. Cowardly play like that irritates me.

In hindsight, I'm glad he didn't retaliate, can do without Gale missing games due to injury/suspension

Looked to me like a forearm.

Then he pushed the hand out.

I also hope when they review Addys tackle on Sammut late on which was put on report they notice Kirmond (i think it was) hitting Addy in the head while he was on the floor

Hopefully Addy won’t be suspended for his attempted crusher tackle on Sammut.

You can't score a try with the arm under the ball, if the ball itself doesn't touch the ground. The ball must always touch the ground.

Consider a player sliding over the line on his back. He manages to free the ball-carrying arm and turns that arm sideways, the forearm firmly strikes the ground, but the ball is above the arm and not on the ground. Clearly, a try is not given. Thus, it is not enough that the ball-carrying arm touched the ground (that is relevant to the completion of a tackle).

If the ball is loose, then as long as the ball itself is on the ground, you can exert a downward pressure with any part of your front upper body ie arms OR torso, and that will be a try. Oddly enough, though, not your head. Although I believe the back of an arm or hand would count. But doing a headstand on the ball wouldn't count. Shame, as it would look pretty cool.

We have had phases in the game where a player plainly loses control of the ball but has been deemed to have retained a fingernail in contact with it and thus a try has sometimes been awarded. I never thought that was a try, because the rules seem to me to pre-suppose that what you need to do is a controlled action. But they aren't crystal. There was much debate for a while, and some very contentious (and contradictory) decisions but then in Aus they started chalking these dropped ball tries off, and it's all gone quiet since then.

The ball has to touch the ground. If it doesn't then it isn't a try. If it does, we then have to consider whether it was the Bulls, if yes, then every conceivable way it still might be disallowed must be examined.

There is only one way you might be awarded a try without the ball actually touching the ground, and that is to "score" it against the Bulls, but that is so trite, they didn't think it necessary to include it in the written rules. But everybody knows.

I think a headstand on the ball with both hands on the ball at the same time should be a 6 pointer as long as you stay vertical for at least 5 seconds.

I thought this when I watched it. IIRC he's pushed him off with his ball carrying arm, and not done it with his hand, because he's obviously using that to keep hold of the ball. If that's the case, surely he's done it with his arm. At what point is that not leading with the forearm and therefore a penalty?

That's just from memory, I'd have to watch it again to be sure.

It couldnt of been his hand as it was the ball carrying arm,

Regardless of forearm or elbow it was still aimed at his head and therefore in my eyes a penalty