![]() Referees ensure that the defending team is allowed to contest for the ball.ĭuring the flying wedge, the ball-carriers teammates are protecting them from being tackled. We have an article on how blocking is strictly forbidden in rugby (although the article shows a few grey areas). Fair contest for the ballīlocking opposition would-be tacklers is a big part of American football. They did this so well that by the 2000s, younger players and referees had never seen it on the pitch. Referees were told to penalize this out of the game. The rugby authorities recognized that the danger was coming from a bunch of forwards binding to each other and running forward to defenders stuck on their try line. Teams at lower levels got more change from giving up a chance for three points to run the flying wedge over the opposition line. This is because the defensive lines were more organized. At elite level, teams were more likely to kick for goal when they got a penalty near the try line. The flying wedge was more prevalent in lower-grade amateur rugby. This was at the same time as the tactic became more popular when a penalty was awarded near the opposition try line. However, concern grew in the 1960s and 70s about a rising rate of spinal injuries. There were less dramatic occurrences in rugby. We’ve already seen that it was responsible for many deaths in American football in the early 20 th century. Two of rugby’s major principles are to prevent dangerous play and to allow a fair contest for the ball. World Rugby Laws Why Is The Flying Wedge Penalized In Rugby? Often one or more of these teammates is in front of the ball-carrier. Immediately, team-mates bind on each side of the ball-carrier in a wedge formation before engaging the opposition. ![]() The kicker taps the ball and starts the attack, either by driving towards the goal line or by passing to a teammate who drives forward. Description in the law booksĪn illegal type of attack, which usually happens near the goal line, when the attacking team is awarded a penalty or free-kick. I suggest you jump to the next section in this article, in which I explain how referees interpret the laws. The problem is that it’s both too detailed and too vague. I’m going to quote it here, but don’t spend too much time puzzling over what exactly they are trying to say. You need to check another section to find the explicit definition. One law says: “ Teams must not use the ‘cavalry charge’ or ‘flying wedge’.” This is the current law, which isn’t very clear. The wording has changed from time to time as ingenious coaches try to bring The flying wedge is specifically named in the law books. What Are The Rugby Union Laws About The Flying Wedge? That’s insane! Why wasn’t it banned? Well, it took the intervention of President Theodore Roosevelt to outlaw the tactics. Just taking 1905, there were twenty-two fatalities and 150 serious injuries attributed to the play. The flying wedge was both successful and lethal. It was quickly taken up through the 1890s by college coaches across the United States. This allowed the attackers to break through into the enemy’s rear and scatter them.Ĭoach Deland recreated this tactic on the college football fields as the flying wedge. It was intended to quickly break an enemy, but if it didn’t, it could become surrounded and then easy to combat.One of Napoleon’s tactics was to mass a large number of his troops against a weak point in the enemy line. Some Germanic armies and Vikings used a modified wedge formation to house skirmishers in the center and deployed spearmen on the flanks at the base of the wedge. The heaviest Cataphract cavalry could be very successful with wedge formations, their sheer momentum being able to drive deep into enemy formations. In antiquity it was often used by heavy infantry to break static shield walls, forcing the defenders to fight individually. When charging thinner lines, the wedge could completely separate a line into two groups, dividing a force and making them easier to defeat. The ensuing charge would penetrate into the ranks of the enemy, usually infantry, and scatter the opposing force. Historically used with cavalry, the formation involves a mass of troops in a triangular wedge with the tip charging at the enemy. ![]() The wedge formation is a very old and very effective formation when employed correctly.
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