@nostrildamus said in WRWC Final - NZ Vs England:
@chimoaus said in WRWC Final - NZ Vs England:
What is the rule when a maul splinters and they start a new maul with the players in front of the ball acting as a shield? This seemed to happen frequently where they would pivot, splinter and start a new maul.
I was going to ask as well. And it didn't look a thing of beauty.
If a maul is called, it stays a maul until one of four things happens:
1 The ball or ball-carrier leaves the maul.
2 The ball is on the ground.
3 The ball is on or over the goal line.
4 An infringement of some kind
So if I form a maul and all the defenders leave, it is still a maul even if I have team mates ahead of me, until one of the above happens.
You're not allowed to pull people out of the maul to create this situation if you're the attacking side.
EDIT: in the case where it splinters off, you'll hear the ref call "same maul!"
EDIT 2: where I'm still bound to someone of course. If the ball carrier becomes unbound from everyone, it is maul over per point 1 above.