Next time you're in your Qantas lounge or whatever, rubbing shoulders with all these people, I want you to share this tactic of yours that you keep banging on about. They'll laugh in your face with how ridiculous it is. You just don't seem to have done the maths. In fact there was a play (I think it was the Thursday game) where a team did exactly what you have suggested. I don't think they did it deliberately, they were just slow getting to the play and decided to set themselves up before they played the ball. As per your suggestion, they had their guys lined up either side, ready for the run but no one obvious as the intended carrier. Ball gets played, hooker passes to the forward running at full pace. Boom, the defence was already on them, smashed them and dragged them back to behind where the ball was played. You see, the defence gets to go when the ball has "cleared the ruck", which I believe I read is when the person playing the ball touches it with their foot. So the ball still has to be collected by the dummy-half, who has to go through the passing motion, throw the ball backwards, remember, it then goes through the air and has to be taken by the runner, so by the time the runner has even made it to the advantage line, the defenders have already had a head-start and are in their face. It just doesn't work how you think it would.