THE offload is an important and exciting aspect of our game that should be encouraged, but Brendan Gallagher (TRP 28/01/24) is right to point out a direct connection between this aspect of the game and the dangerous rise in tackle heights.
The need to tackle higher in the modern game is also a direct result of the various contact areas becoming virtually uncompetitive. Whereas historically tackling the ball carrier himself – usually round the legs – gave rise to real opportunities for the defending side to regain possession of the ball, the present laws and their interpr...