Offside At The Ruck

John Tsang asks...."If I am defending at a ruck, can I move off the defensive line as soon as the scrum half have his hands on the ball?"

Or to put it another way........When is the ball out of the ruck?
The IRB have helpfully cleared this up for us once and for all.  The ball is out when it is lifted off the floor (or beyond the back foot of the ruck).  So to answer John's questions, NO! You cannot move in front of the offside line when the scrum half has his hands on the ball.  You must wait until he lifts the ball clear of the floor.

Offside at the ruck. When a scrum half attempts to retrieve the ball from a ruck, the ball is not out until that player has picked the ball up from the ground. In the clip the scrum half is taken out by the player before the ball is off the ground and this would be deemed to be offside by the player tackling the scrum half. If, however, the scrum half had picked up the ball and a defending player tackles the scrum half, that player does so without sanction.

See the video here: IRB Law Application Guidelines

Regards
The Rugby Ref

How far does the mantra, the referee is the sole judge of fact and law stretch?

Hello, how far does the mantra, the referee is the sole judge of fact and law stretch? 
What happens when Team A plays against Team B and the referee agrees that Team A won the game. Team B is not happy with this result and decides to lodge an appeal against the decision. Can a union or rugby body alter a result after it has been signed off by the referee appointed by such a union or rugby body?? Are they in their right to do so or does it always stands that The referee is the sole judge of fact (score in this case) and law.
 Hope to hear from you. Thank you Charlie 

 Hi Charlie

DURING THE MATCH 6.A.4 THE DUTIES OF THE REFEREE IN THE PLAYING ENCLOSURE (a) The referee is the sole judge of fact and of Law during a match. The referee must apply fairly all the Laws of the Game in every match.

If you believe the referee has made a mistake with adding up the scores, then by all means consult with him and the other coach immediately after the game.  It is entirely possible that he has marked all the scores correctly, but just added them up wrong in the heat of the moment.  This also happens to coaches!

However, if the referee believes the score to be correct, and the team are adamant that it is not, then all they can do is contact the league or cup committee.  Be warned though, that without any evidence, such as a full match video, it is unlikely the committee will contradict the refeee.

Regards
The Rugby Ref