In my early days as a London Society Referee I used to read, with much pleasure, a running article called 'Diary of a B52 ...

Technically, Yes.

However, like most things in rugby it is subjective to how the header was carried out.

The topic was recently raised because of a video on the BBC website showing a player running for the ball, heading the ball in order to keep it in play, and then regathering the ball and passing to ...

Today is RugbyRefs.com's 8th birthday.

The site was created on the 10th November 2003 after a request by Robert Burns to add forums to the London Society Website was turned down. ...

The Dynamics of a Tip Tackle

With the recent sending off of a player in a high profile Rugby World Cup play-off match, the Dangerous Tip Tackle has become a focus of much of the rugby public, and the seemingly heretofore unknown "Spear Tackle Memorandum" has received its greatest public airing since it was first promulgated by the IRB in June 2009.

If you look through ALL of these better known examples of sanctioned tip tackles, in every case, you can clearly identify each of what I call the five "tells" of a tip-tackle.

The tackler
► Comes to a stop
► Grasps the ball carrier below the hips
► Lifts him straight upwards ...