Law 4 : Players’ Clothing

http://www.irblaws.com/downloads/EN/Law_4_EN.pdf

How the heck does that cover the right to strap on loads of wadding to enable a player to be lifted in a lineout / high ball contest?

I've just spent 10 minutes on a post on this, only to accidentally his a "back" button on my keyboard and lose the thing

Anyway, leaving out all the nice extra bits I looked at (as I have to get some work done) IRB regulation 12 has detailed guidelines on all protective clothing. Most pertinent I think is:

4. Banned items of clothing
(g) A player must not wear any item of which any part is thicker than
0.5cm when uncompressed or is denser than 45 kilograms per cubic
metre unless specified within this Regulation 12/Law 4. Where this
overall thickness consists of padded material covered by fabric, 0.5
cm is the maximum measured thickness for the combination of the
uncompressed padding and the fabric. The fabric can contribute up to
a maximum measured thickness of 1 mm on each side of the padding.

So based on that I think anything under 7mm (~ 1/4 of an inch) is OK. Any more than that shouldn't be allowed.

Hmmm.

I looked at that Kiwi.

Everything looks to be centred on safety/injury prevention (which in spirit, it should).

You could argue that players' mitts are an exception, but which part of Law 4 does the bandaging of the lower third of the femur prevent injury - and if so why don't all players utilise them.

And are all components washable (and reusable)?

Law 4 proposal:

Prop forwards should wear shirts designed around the shoulder area which allow for their opponent to engage legally in the scrum.

Portnoy wrote:Law 4 proposal:

Prop forwards should wear shirts designed around the shoulder area which allow for their opponent to engage legally in the scrum.

+1

Kiwireddevil wrote:

Portnoy wrote:Law 4 proposal:

Prop forwards should wear shirts designed around the shoulder area which allow for their opponent to engage legally in the scrum.

+1

It's only a statement of the bleedin' obvious Kiwi.

I'd guess that ~20% of scrums go down because of binding issues.

Maybe the prop jerseys should have handles on them...?

Mickado wrote:Maybe the prop jerseys should have handles on them...?

I'd never have in a million years have thought of that Mick.

However a bit of lax shouldering might be better. A handle might be something that props might thing that it's something to pull on rather than grasp.

I'd say it's about 60% if not more.

I'd also like to see a brightly coloured section on the props shirt denoting where the opposing player should be binding so that the officials can easily see and punish teams accordingly.

HERSH wrote:I'd say it's about 60% if not more.

I'd also like to see a brightly coloured section on the props shirt denoting where the opposing player should be binding so that the officials can easily see and punish teams accordingly.

Agreed Hersh. Like in amateur boxing

Indeed with modern materials and dyes the stresses could be apparent,

Ah i was being tongue in cheek about the handle but there would be nothing to stop a jersey manufacturer putting in material that's easier to grip. But unless there is a mandate from the IRB that it's mandatory then nobody will do it.

Mickado wrote:Ah i was being tongue in cheek about the handle but there would be nothing to stop a jersey manufacturer putting in material that's easier to grip. But unless there is a mandate from the IRB that it's mandatory then nobody will do it.

This is a discussion about Law 4 Mick.

Law 4 : Players’ Clothing

I would say 30% is about right.
The scrum collapse is also used as a bit of a deterrent. If oposition get the nudge on an/or win the hit on your teams ball then its not unheard of for the team in posession to collapse and reset and hopefully win the hit on the next attempt.

To those that have suggested shirt alterations to the shoulder area - what good would that do? Its illegal to bind on the arm and a referee will ping you for that.
Any easy grip material would have to be around the waist line up to the lower rib area on the side of the shirts.

As others have said above - this will never happen unless the IRB puts through a standard regulation for all clubs of all levels.

Any way - if I was forced to wear a new jersey with easy grip material for my oponent on it - I would probably cover it in vaselline (old school stylee)

Oh - and how many broken fingers will result from a handle attached to the side of a shirt!

Simple solution - go back to the old loose fitting shirts for all.

One has to remember propdavid, that that props along with Usain Bolt, Ian Thorpe and Chris Hoy, your average prop needs to be exceptionally aerodynamic.

At least 90% of scrums that go down do so because one of the front rows (either individual player or front row as a whole) decide they want to take the scrum down. In my opinion very few are accidents caused by tight shirts. This won't help.

Ha, cheers Portnoy - everylittle bit helps.
But those dam tight shirts dont do me any favours.

Portnoy wrote:Law 4 proposal:

Prop forwards should wear shirts designed around the shoulder area which allow for their opponent to engage legally in the scrum.

Portnoy, if the prop forwards should have an extra bit on their shirts that is easy to grab onto then every player should have them as it would make the way you are to be tackled easier.Prop forwards like Gethin Jenkins pride themselves on their ability in the loose, why should it be easier to grab hold of him in the tackle just because his position makes him have an area on his jersey that is easier to grab and keep hold of. I have no problem with them having this extra bit put on but everyone else should have it as well.

The illegal "hit" that happens at every scrum is far more to blame

LondonTiger wrote:The illegal "hit" that happens at every scrum is far more to blame

CTPE might just as well be nenamed Ready Steady Maim.