James Hooks 'strip' tackle

It’s very effective, but does it really originate from rugby league.

I thought you weren’t allowed to interfere with the ball during the tackle.

Also have you seen any other union players doing it?

I don't think it is legal in union but he does it so quick that it does not seem deliberate.
Hook has a lot of upper body strength he has a very effective hand off.


Report on one of the rugby sites.
Most interesting to watch was a new tactic employed by the mostly talented James Hook; he repeatedly went into a tackle then ripped his arm away quick enough round the ball for the referee not to notice what he had just done by forcing it to spill forward, and the ball carrier penalised each time could do nothing. Allegedly this is a method employed in rugby league and is extremely effective if the referee is oblivious.

Nothing compared to Ireland's two man drag down by neck choke hold tackle

Hook's the man.

Poor old Banahan was stripped by Hook whilst he had Shane hanging round his neck at the MS the other day result apparently Banahan knocked on just as he was about to reach out and touch the ball down, hmmm...

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Poor old Banahan was stripped by Hook whilst he had Shane hanging round his neck at the MS the other day result apparently Banahan knocked on just as he was about to reach out and touch the ball down, hmmm...

It's very touching you are sticking up for the love of your life but really ?

Rua Tipoki was brilliant at it,won a lot of turnovers for Munster with it.

The strip tackle in league I think is allowed so long as there is only 1 tackler. Once the second tackler joins in, there can be no deliberate interference or attempt to dispossess the attacking player of the ball. A proper league guru can clarify if such a person could be seen dead making non-'my type of rugby is better than yours' comments on a union thread.

Not a league expert but my understanding is the same as yours (i.e. only one tackler).

Why is it illegal in union? What law does it break?

That's nearly true thebandwagon, though I am not a league guru. Yuo are allowed 2 players max to strip the ball, rule introduced in 2001, which countered the rule in 1991 from the NSWRL board which penalized defenders for stripping the ball.

munkian wrote:

BATH_BTGOG wrote:Poor old Banahan was stripped by Hook whilst he had Shane hanging round his neck at the MS the other day result apparently Banahan knocked on just as he was about to reach out and touch the ball down, hmmm...

It's very touching you are sticking up for the love of your life but really ?

Well dont worry the precedent has been set, just wait for the TMO to take it upon himslef to adjudicate on that one and we can have Hook yellowed and a penalty try to England.

Moral victors.

Don't see anything illegal about it.

If you go in with your shoulder, with your hands only on the ball it would be a charge IMO but that's it. Also if you strip the ball after the tackle has been completed.

But that's it.

He has been doing it for some time, probably something to do with his shoulder injury which limited his tackling effectiveness.

No doubt though that he is getting better at it, I seem to remember a Wales game in the last few seasons, when he attempted this strip tackle on an opponent near the try line. He looked pretty foolish when the strip diddn't work and the opposing player was free to flop over the line scoring the try!

To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

A similar thing usually happens when Sexton tries to hold up the opponent in the tackle. Usually he gives up 10-12 yards of territory before it goes to ground. If two flankers are tackling, or if Trimble is involved it more than likely works.

South africa dabbled with that in a few games last year, until it became clear it is a risky way to effect a tackle, if you slip off the ball, it can cost tries.

i thought its legal- i mean it is basically trying to rip the ball

If the ball goes forward would that then be a delibarate knock-on ?

It would and I expect Hook to be pinged for it now that refs are aware of the technique.

geoff - you would expect it, but I bet it doesn't happen. It will probably end up as one of those things that he can get away with and anyone else who does it will get pinged.

Also thinking about it Scott Williams was doing a fair bit of stripping the ball in the tackle like that (but keeping the ball instead of losing it like Hook) at the back end of the Magners League last season. Once in a while ti may be ok, but I honestly think it is too risky to try all the time.

I can't see how it's a deliberate knock on as he strips the ball back towards his own line, therfore going backwards from Hooks hand and forward from the attackers point of view

In league if you've had more than 1 tackler involved in the tackle at any time you can't strip the ball, even if only one tackler is in contact with the ball carrier at the time.

Quade Cooper uses it as well, He's pretty good at it.
Didn't think it was illegal though? I've used it a lot when playing and never been pinged for it?

flankertye wrote:Quade Cooper uses it as well, He's pretty good at it.
Didn't think it was illegal though? I've used it a lot when playing and never been pinged for it?

was about to say same thing, noticed him doing it last tri-nations. definitely dont think its illegal.

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

Agree with this. If it works, great. If it doesn't you end up making a bit of a fool of yourself. He's not the first to do it and, to be honest, if I was the coach I wouldn't want my players trying it too often.

SafeAsMilk wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

Agree with this. If it works, great. If it doesn't you end up making a bit of a fool of yourself. He's not the first to do it and, to be honest, if I was the coach I wouldn't want my players trying it too often.

So are you saying that Hook had several missed tackles? have you seen the match stats.

Cymroglan wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

Agree with this. If it works, great. If it doesn't you end up making a bit of a fool of yourself. He's not the first to do it and, to be honest, if I was the coach I wouldn't want my players trying it too often.

So are you saying that Hook had several missed tackles? have you seen the match stats.

I assume this is aimed at ScarletsSpiderman as I said no such thing.

Both of you as you agreed with him.

Nope. I agreed (with SS) that it could be viewed as a fairly high-risk tactic, not that Hook had missed tackles during that game. It may have come off this time, but may not in the future.

There is no tactic that is foolproof, the only problem I have with ripping the ball rugby league style is that I would class it as borderline shoulder charge.

nothing illegal in it and he rips the ball back towards him so it cannot be a knock on,

I'd rather he tackled correctly though eg low and take the legs not this high risk strategy

I think it's a great little tactic really, but a lot depends on field position. If the opposition is running from their 22 then by all means, it could result in a turnover and a try for us. Not so sure when defending in our half though!

Draigoch wrote:I think it's a great little tactic really, but a lot depends on field position. If the opposition is running from their 22 then by all means, it could result in a turnover and a try for us. Not so sure when defending in our half though!

Agreed, in going for the ball he's in the process not bringing the man down, with the opposition making yardage. Obviously every time it works..who cares!

In league, tackles are coached with the idea of holding the man up with the aim of slowing the play down, allowing your defence to get lined up and ready. Both hooks 'strip' and the Irish 2 man mini maul strategy come from this.

To a league coach the perfect tackle involves at least 3 defenders. The first man comes in and locks down the ball to prevent the offload (might need to explain that concept to any English international centres who read this!), and attacks 'the carry' ie the arms of the player, to cause them to focus on protecting the ball and potentially exposing the ribs. More often super league players won't attempt an actual rip, as refs are so clued up on it, but in union , where it is legal to steal the ball in the contact area, Hook is doing nothing wrong as long as it goes backwards.
The second man then hits the attackers torso, potentially in the exposed ribs, with some serious force, because hey, it's a contact sport. The third man will then wrap the legs to force them to the ground, but holding them up before this buys time.

I think both Hooks strip and the Irish method are better than just taking them low , both increase the chance of a turnover whilst reducing the possibility for quick ball and offloads

Cheers for that jumper, very interesting.

I have to say through I hate the 'Irish tackle' (not just because it seems to be so effective against Wales) because it's a bit too high for me and holding round the neck like that will cause damage sooner than later..

Quade Cooper does it,Hook has done it for a while now but more so recently.
Its not illegal .
I personally prefer it when players line up the man in possession and really go low with the shoulder leading into the abdomen winding the player whilst the ball flies out of his hands because of the hit.

To be honest it's a pity Jonathan Davies highlighted it because I doubt anyone else would of noticed, now people will be aware of it and it wont work anymore .

Cymroglan wrote:

SafeAsMilk wrote:

ScarletSpiderman wrote:To be honest it is good if he wins the ball. That said against Argentina I saw Hook fail to pull it off a few times and the opposition then gain a fair bit of ground as he has not put the man to ground.

Agree with this. If it works, great. If it doesn't you end up making a bit of a fool of yourself. He's not the first to do it and, to be honest, if I was the coach I wouldn't want my players trying it too often.

So are you saying that Hook had several missed tackles? have you seen the match stats.

I have not seen the stats, however I did see him go to make a tackle, and then fling his hand up in the air and do a little semi spin leaving the man he tried to strip remain in posession of the ball and have to be tackled by another man. Whether the stats folks classed it as a missed tackle or not it was an attempt at doing the clever stripping of teh ball that failed. And as I said i believe he did end up doing that a few times.

AlynDavies wrote:To be honest it's a pity Jonathan Davies highlighted it because I doubt anyone else would of noticed, now people will be aware of it and it wont work anymore .

Agreed!