Quote ="Slugger McBatt"Although if a player runs towards a kicker, however half-heartedly, it could be said to be playing at the ball, as he has created less space for the kick, which is evidenced usually by the ball hitting him, the difficulty is that the player could be trying to tackle the kicker, and the half-heartedness comes about because he realises he won't make it.
As for the Addy non-try, what upset me most was that our backs stood around looking at the ball, which allowed Addy to pick it up again: he'd heard no whistle, and we weren't bothered about picking it up. One, it created a risk of misreading it and letting Addy score (remember: Silverwood gave a try), and two, missed a chance of a freeplay, where we could have got further down field. We got away with that one.'"
Playing at the ball or not when charging at the kicker I'm pretty relaxed about - it's rarely controversial and is usually well handled by the officials; I don't agree that if the ball hits the man as he runs in to disrupt the kick (usually by tackling the kicker) he's played at it - but they usually get the decisions right in terms of looking for an outstretched hand or foot etc.
I agree with you on the second point - play to the whistle and all that jazz.
