2ND. TEST

[Mikey Brown]

I want to see the 5m move where the scrum-half pops it up to an already airborne forward, with a huge run up, just flying like an absolute missile at the defensive line.

Picture that Leguizamon dive from years ago. Fully horizontal. Might not make the line every time but at the least you probably ‘win’ a red card.

[Banquo]

Surely diving for the line in cricket isn't about speed of movement, but extending reach.

Wingers rarely dive in order to extend their reach (though it allows leeway sideways, as they can hit the flag, and cross the line of touch, but still get the ball down in the field of play) - Sheehan certainly wasn't extending his reach as he kept the ball to his chest.
Of course, rugby players also don't have an extra 90cm of reach beyond their hands, significantly magnifying the increased reach of diving.

make myself more difficult to tackle in the process.

...is the key point about diving tbh.

[Puja]

I want to see the 5m move where the scrum-half pops it up to an already airborne forward, with a huge run up, just flying like an absolute missile at the defensive line.

Picture that Leguizamon dive from years ago. Fully horizontal. Might not make the line every time but at the least you probably ‘win’ a red card.

...that is entirely legal under this logic, isn't it? Nothing to stop Ellis Genge coming off a 20m run up, getting passed the ball and launching himself.

Seems safe.

Puja

[Oakboy]

These days, especially with the corner flag no longer being part of touch, wingers dive to get the ball down with their body airborne over the line. The body lands in touch after the act of scoring.

Back in the days of 'the try', Gareth dived to reach the line when tacklers may otherwise have stopped him.

Whatever the laws, interpretation must surely be on the side of such efforts being allowed to stand. Chalking them off with dubious technical objections cannot be in the best interest of the game (no matter how much score-related whingeing occurs).

[Mikey Brown]

Except it’s not a technical objection. It’s a matter of safety - in terms of anyone finding a way to counter it.

We might never see a try like that again, or we might see a bunch of instances that result in horrible head clashes, who knows?

[BaldiePete]

Someone has been having fun on Carlo Tizzano’s Wikipedia entry. It lasted about 75 minutes before it was removed.