Serious question

[NPK]

I just posted this in another forum and decided to post it here too...

What would be the consequences of this hypothetical:

A player doing a hitup was running towards a defender...the defender was low and ready to perform a good technique low tackle around the legs. The ball carrier knows this and just before impact, he slightly changes direction resulting in him running directly at the tackler's head rather than one of his shoulders, giving the tackler no time to adjust and not raising his knees. The tackler gets knocked out.

Has this ever happened? ie. a player about to be tackled changing direction and running into a player's head intentionally?

Would that be legal? If it started to happen regularly, how could it be monitored?
eusa_think

 

[Playboy Bunny]

I suppose it would depend on how obvious it was of the attacker. I guess sometimes you can pick it and sometimes you can't.

Yet again, if it is intentional then it's not in the spirit of the game however it may still be legal.

 

[Russo]

A bit like lifting the knees, but good luck proving the intent

 

[Jazza]

If the player is preparing to tackle early enough for the attacking player to be able to change direction, the attacking player would be better served swerving away from the tackler because he would be able to beat him pretty easily I would think.

 

[Hamm.0]

If the tackler was down low, ready to drive, that early; he wouldn't have made it out of schoolboy rugby with all the injuries that he would have already received to his neck and back.

In my experiences, you don't drop your shoulder and wrap, until right as the attacker has is at you eusa_think