I agree, so it comes down to what McGuire's intentions & what he was attempting to do. I was responding to Starbug's assertion that McGuire's intentions were irrelevant when in fact what McGuire was attempting to do is the crux of the matter.

Due to the situation, position on the field, scoreline etc he obviously wasnt going for a drop goal he was attempting a grubber and due to pressure from Tomkins didn't get it right. So knock on was the correct call IMO.

It was irrelivant because he didnt do a drop kick , he wasnt intending to do a drop kick , he dropped the ball and then kicked it

That's exactly how I see it, and I'm sure I've also been told this in the past.

I'm not sure why certain people are still convinced they're somehow more insightful than the match officials, players, commentators, the media and indeed most fans (neutral or otherwise - even on here).

He dropped it. It hit the floor and bounced. That immediately constitutes a knock-on. That his foot then connected is irrelevant. Trying to claim some form of accidental drop-kick is frankly laughable.

Which is what a drop kick is - a kick on the half volley.

He never intended to do a drop kick though. He clearly wasn't going for goal. So it was a knock on.

He did actually do a drop kick, because he wasn't intending to do a drop kick is why it was a knock on.

It is McGuire's intentions that caused it to be a knock on not his physical actions.

No he dropped it , then kicked it , it was nowhere near being a ' drop kick '

Anyway , you lost end of

Good lord you're as bad as Smokey!
Yep well we're then into the issue of how the officials uphold the rules! I think most people are agreed on that the TJ's need to give the ref more/better help.

There also seems to be a habit at the moment of refs giving another set of 6 everytime a kick hits an opposition player, when in many cases they havent played at the ball. It seems the default position seems to be to give an extra set. Which comes back to old Uncle Stu, our friendly Match Officials Director, recently relocated to the south of France.

Making a movement towards the ball (even before it is in the air off the kicker's foot) is now treated as "playing" at it IIRC.

So if you take a few steps forward out of the defensive line to close the kicker down in case he chooses to run it and he then subsequently smacks the ball straight at you, the attacking team gets another set of six if they can recover it.

A ludicrous interpretation IMO, which sees players who are virtually stood still with their back to the kicker being classed as having made a charge down.

Someone needs to get Starbug to sit down and watch some drop goal attempts frame by frame. I'm guessing that in the majority you'll find at least one frame (so that's what - 1/32 of a second?) where the ball is on the floor and not in contact with the kicker's foot. Presumably in his world those are all knock-ons?

dropkick - (football) kicking (as for a field goal) in which the football is dropped and kicked as it touches the ground

Your definition is incorrect. The one I pasted is correct.
It was clearly a knock-on by Maguire.
Tomkins, in tackling Maguire by the arms, caused him to drop it. Quick thinking Maguire, then put his foot to it.

Errm, no.

Not sure where your version comes from, but the laws of the game state

"DROP KICK is a kick whereby the ball is dropped from the hands (or
hand) and is kicked immediately it rebounds from the
ground."

which is what the OP said.

Grammatically, as it touches and immediately do not mean the same but when I played and drop-kicked the ball I always tried to kick it at the same time or immediately it rebounds which are a millisecond apart.
I certainly never dropped it on the floor, like Maguire, about 15 centimetres from my foot and then kicked it.
We all know what a drop-kick is and I can't understand posters who say it was a drop-kick.

I googled 'definition of a drop-kick' and that's where I got my definition from.

I thought there would be more discussion of the Carmont forward pass or the Leeds' taking out of Richards off the ball which were both overlooked.

Whilst I agree that Mcguire knocked on, I think you'll find that Tompkins actually tackled him whilst he was attempting a grubber kick.

A good move by a good stand-off prevented by a timely tackle from a good full back.

Which McGuire didnt do , so it wasn't a drop kick of any description