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When is the Ball Out?

The simple answer to the question "when is the ball out" is as follows:
a) If the scrum-half (or other player) is pulling the ball out and there is "air" under the ball (because it has been picked up) or
b) The ball is at the feet of an unbound player or
c) The ball is beyond the back foot of a bound player (this used to be "if there is sky above the ball")
then, the ball is "out" of the ruck, scrum or maul.

Note that the terminology "two hands on the ball means it is out" has been removed from this definition. Until the ball is out, the off-side line exists and players in the ruck, maul or scrum may not reach out to grab or interfere with the scrum-half: he is allowed to “dig it out”. This means if the scrum-half is “digging it out”, the ball is not yet out.

This is an excerpt from the "Ask a Referee" column by Peter Darbishire in the Spring 2009 edition of Scrum, Ontario’s Rugby Magazine. You can subscribe to Scrum at www.scrummag.com.


For a video explanation, see the Ball Out link on www.rugbyrefereedevelopment.com