SOME MAD TERMS IN RUGBY?

Rugby [Union] rumbles on, and the laws are a bit of a rolling maul too.

And with the changes, some very odd phrases are coined, in the laws themselves or in common (even supposed expert) parlance.

Some of them even stick. But they are still odd.

e.g.

a) "neck roll".

Doesn't that sound relaxing? Part of a nice massage. Or a yoga/pilates class.

Or maybe it's an inflight head support?

Possibly even a tasty alternative to a sandwich, from prime neck of beef??

But actually something like "neck grab" or better still in the case of shenanigans in a ruck, "neck wrench" would be more accurate? ... if it's dangerous, yellow-card stuff especially.


b) ".... at the cleanout".

Cleanout??

"Clearout", yes okay, but a lot, commentators included, say "cleanout".

Sounds suspicuiously like a litter campaign, deblocked drains, or even an enema.

"Clearout", yes sure. Or "pick-out". Or just "competition (at the ruck)", if that's actually the discussion point. Rather than e.g. a feed of all-bran and its consequences.


c) "not rolling away", and its brother "not releasing".

The first one sounds like a balletic move, or else a game of bowls. It might suit an old-fashioned "Mr Five-by-Five" (roly-poly) prop, but even then it sounds a bit weird, and the required acrobatic feat surely a bit too much to ask anyone to do under a forest of torsos & limbs.

Something like "not disengaging" might be a more reasonable demand of a human being sat on, squashed or crushed, and thus also a better term?


"Not releasing" - one of those ambiguous, confusing terms. Commonly used of clinging on to the player (opponent), but also for clinging on to the ball, two different things. It's because the term is so woolly.

Why not part of the general "killing the ball" (if it's the ball being hung onto), or something like "holding on" (if it's the opponent you've tackled)?


d) "choke tackle" - as the laws have stiffened on high tackles, this "choking" term becomes odd. "Stifling tackle" or something of that sort might suggest a tackle of the sort that prevents the opponent from doing anything useful.

These days, "CHOKE tackle" seems to drag us back to "neck roll" territory, if that's what grabbing someone's neck and pulling, hauling or wrenching it back or to one side is now humorously referred to as.


So, am I suggesting inventing a whole new set of terms, or something? No, that's already been done. But in some cases, I'd argue, not very clear or usefully descriptive terms. Hence this post. Which is more of a shrug. But not a neck roll.

Evolving game, some bizarre choices coined.

Tip tackle?

Accidentally offside?

Blindside.