But what about instances where the passer is hit just after he passes? Their momentum would stop dead, but the ball would still be affected by the forward momentum they had before the impact. To me, if the position of the hands is what the refs look at, this should be fairly easy to judge on a video replay.

so are you saying the linesman has no input into forward passes? cos it hasnt anything to do with the flight of the ball?

[pedant]There are no linesmen in RL.[/pedant]

The instructions to the Touch Judges can vary from ref to ref. They don't [ihave[/i to be involved in anything beyond judging touch, as their name suggests. In any case, the TJ can still have an input into forward passes without relying on the flight of the ball in the same way as the ref can.

But by definition the momentum is imparted at the point of release not when the player is hit. The 'super technology' I refer to would continue to move the line forward at the speed the player was moving before he was hit - the hit has no relevance on the line - that would keep moving. In reality the hit has absolutely no affect on the direction of the pass in any case as it is after the release. If the ball was released after the hit then the line would be stationary like the player.

so do I. Quickly followed by not square, offside, crossing and grapple ref!

Needs to have some kind of fingerprint detector and also an accelerometer and GPS tracking so you know who has propelled the ball and in what direction at what speed

That was all covered under the general description of 'motion sensors'. Apart from the fingerprinting, which I will now introduce without giving you any credit or financial remuneration.

Fingerprints are unreliable, especially in wet/muddy conditions. DNA sampling is the way to go IMO.

DNA would take too long, what about retina scans?

Not with the development of instant DNA sampling technology, it won't. I don't think retina scanners on a rugby ball would be very practical since most players don't carry the ball with their eyes.

on recent performances a few FC players wouldn't be troubled by fingerprint technology either!

w@nker, that's you and bill gates on my "nicking my ideas" list

It might just manage to capture a partial print as they knock on...