dont worry its a great idea.

some people just struggle with change

thats just gonna complicate things even more.

in the circumstance described above wouldnt it be classed as a professional foul anyway? punishable by a penalty and sinbinning

yes at first probably



but i think we'd get used to it eventually. the idea of two markers and a defensive line ten yards back seemed tricky originally!

which circumstance do you mean?

why, soccer has red card / yellow card.

basically unless its a violent conduct you cant kick for touch.

its very simple.

endless penalties ruin a game.

the best part of the game is when it just flows without stoppages

a game can build up nice momentum and its great to watch

you get endless stupid penalties and it makes the game stop start.

especially when its for a penalty for a minor infringement

we want to have a game which flows, not something which allows referress to get involved.

Or maybe if teams were square at marker, got back 10 meters and didn't commit high tackles as often the game would flow?

if that attitude was around in 1907 we would still be playing rugby union

were a player in an attacking position is held down deliberately to slow it down in the last few seconds of the game!

i think your idea has legs, the main problem i would see in practise is that it may speed the game up too much,

i know the offending team lose a lot from a penalty with either points or a lot of yards but they also get a little breather and to reset the line, back to one hammers a team struggling to get back with more tackles to make quickly, all the attacking team would need to do is keep running at the markers struggling to get in position making 10 yards down the field and staying on the 1st tackle

im not sure it doesnt put too much effort into fitness, but it would be interesting to see it trialled and see how players and coaches adjust

in a similar vain, i would like to see a 5 minute sin bin for all head high challenges, i think tackle technique would change very quickly and they would disappear from the game,

i also wonder, with the amount of dummy half running we see these days, whether allowing teams to have a third marker wouldnt change it up a bit, it would take someone out of the defensive line so there would be a bit more space on the fringes encouraging more creative play

I understand what you're getting at.

But I think if the game were to become faster and more emphasis put on fitness then this would be a step forward for the sport.

some of the most enterprising play and skill is showcased when defences are tiring.

I think the tactic of teams committing a foul intentionally so their team can have a rest is something that we shouldn't accept. if the rules i'm talking about were put in place then teams would not intentionally give away penalties as there'd be no guarantee of a rest! All it would mean is that they'd have to make six more tackles.

The back to one would hammer tiring defences but surely this is a positive aspect of my idea? The incentive to be squeaky clean in all aspects of the game would still be there because if you're not then you're not going to get the ball.



What about clumsy tackles where there is no malice or agression?

Only complication would be for the ref, and players able to understand if it was a full blown penalty or reset the tackle count. Not sure the offences in the category 1 can be classed as minor. Interference at PTB is an effective way of slowing opponents ball down, downgrading that would just result in even more negative play.

How would spectators know of the 'penalty' and more tackles to follow?