My take on this bit is; if the ball lands in play and rolls to a stop in the field of play, a defending player cannot put themselves out of play then reach back in to touch the ball. The player is not considered an object so cannot impede the ball or force it out of play. The ball must now leave the field of play by it's own force, if it is influenced by a defending player in any way then it will considered to have been made dead by the defender which will result in a dropout

Have they kept hold of the 'free play rule'. That's something else that just wastes time. Who decides the rules of the game. Nigel Wood can't be involved in that as well can he. Or is he just in charge of trying to kill the game.

Yes he can - he chairs the Laws Committee that decides these rule changes; which at least guarantees that the lunch is good.

I get that bit, but what about if the ball is still moving?

Many times in the last couple of years I've seen some great kicks into the in-goal diffused by a defending player, by assisting it out of play whilst it's still moving, resulting in a tap twenty, is this still allowed?

No. The ball has to touch the floor over the deadball line to be considered dead. if a player touches it before it touches the floor over the deadball line, regardless of where they are stood, then they are deemed to have taken it dead. so that would be a drop out if done by a defender

Do we know if this applies at kick off too? I'm assuming it does

Thanks for trying to clear it up, however, it states in the article :-

=#0080FFThe previous rule of a player being able to straddle the dead ball line or touch in-goal line and be awarded a 20m restart has now changed.

=#0080FFWhere the ball is stationary in the in-goal area comes into contact with a player in touch, in goal or over the dead ball line, the ball is deemed to have been made dead by that player. The ball must have bounced on the ground either on or over the dead ball line/touch in goal line for a 20m restart to be awarded.

Maybe I'm too pedantic, or maybe the the wording is poor, but why does it state a stationary ball?

I don't think you're too pedantic; the wording is poor. The first sentence seems to give a general overview of the rule. The second paragraph appears to concern itself with only a sub-set of an actually quite rare condition where the bsll happens to be stationary, which casts some doubt on the generality of the first sentence.

Thank you, I thought I was going mad, so many replies, so little clarity.

And the moving ball scenario? (Chuckling to himself)

Goal Line Drop outs

The ball is touch in goal when it touches the corner post, in goal line or any object on or outside the touch in goal line. A player is NOT considered to be an ‘object’.

Where the ball which is stationary in the in-goal area comes into contact with a player in touch in goal or over the dead ball line, the ball is deemed to have been made dead by that player.

The ball must have bounced on the ground either on or over the dead ball line/touch in goal line for a 20m restart to be awarded. Should the non-kicking team touch the ball whilst playing at it before this happens then a drop out will be awarded.

Yep the wording is rubbish. It only clarifies 1 particular situation but not all.

Unfortunately it's not an isolated case in the rules. They could do with both updating (to get rid of archaic rules that don't apply anymore) and re-wording to be more specific.

Completely agree - you hear the ref calling 'milking', in those instances, it should be a penalty every time, and a sin bin for repeat offending.

I just posted the below on a similar thread on the Leeds board about the biggest change (not really a change, just applying the actual rules of the game) if like to see;;

The biggest change I'd like to see is how the ruck is policed. I'd get rid of the 'dominant tackle' interpretation and simply have a set time that the ruck is allowed to last - no advantage for dominant tackles, no advantage for finding your front in attack - just a consistent time for each tackle before held is called, and once the ref calls held, all defenders to release and clear the ruck area immediately.
For me, that's the way we minimise the importance of 'wrestle' and get back to the game being a contest of attacking rugby vs brutal defence, not a matter of who is the best at controlling the ruck.

only rule that should change and believed they trialled it in pre season a few years ago is a chragedown does not wipe the tackle count, currently it penalizes good defence and rewards poor attack