Rant: I thought crawling was illegal?

Kids are taught once tackled they have to
let go of the ball.

Back when I was first learning rugby there were a few main things I was repeatedly told:

• Pass the ball backward
• Run forwards
• Tackle the legs
• When you're on the floor you're out of the game

Over the years I've done these with varying degrees of success - can't say I follow the third one that well - but I do my best. They are the basic tenants of the game of rugby, what makes it unique. Which makes me very confused having watch recent top level rugby matches and the disregard for the fourth point.

It has become a trend to see players claiming as many extra yards as they can after contact, and why not it gets your team closer to the try line which after all is the point of the game. And with the addition of the ever increasing bigger collisions in the sport means often the tackler fails to hang on to their prey as they both fall to the ground. Obviously, under the laws, the "tackled player isn't held" and so can attempt to get back to their feet and play on. In the past this is what we would see, a player would fight to bounce back up on to their feet and continue running, however, this no longer seems to be the case.

Players now seem content to crawl along the ground, using their forearms for purchase as they stay low. This is built out of gaining valuable seconds of moving forward that otherwise you would spend get upright. But it is illegal. Under the laws, you are "off your feet" if you are using any part of your body other than your feet to stay upright. And you can't tell me a bear crawl is supported solely by your legs. Sonny Bill Williams is a particular exponent of this tactic, using his massive size and physicality to shove his tackler off him, before proceeding to gain extra yards with his nose to the ground like a truffle pig. 

Bear crawls appear in every rugby teams fitness training, but are they appearing in rugby in the right way?

To be honest, I don't blame the players for doing this, if you can get away with it why wouldn't you. The worrying part is that referees are allowing it to happen. It's another law that seems to have been forgotten - like with straight scrum feeds. It seems in remembering that players can get back up after an incomplete tackle, referees are willing to let the ball carrier get away with anything. In the past you'd see players hit the deck, release the ball, return to their feet after the tackler had rolled away (again something that must be done), before picking the ball back up and running away. All of that is 

Andy Farrell might be annoyed with this
 "bending" of the laws.

perfectly legal. Players now, though, are omitting the release of the ball and return to feet entirely and just powering on. Are referee's just assuming the player has done the motion in the blink of an eye? Or are they just forgetting a crucial part of the laws?

It's a minor part of the professional game of rugby, but it is something that is becoming a reoccurring "problem". I'm sure coaches are loving the extra three or four yards they are gaining, but I'm sure defence coaches are getting a little annoyed. It's something referee's especially need to start catching and penalising as they should.

Rant over.