this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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The problem with lateraling in American football is that the person you'd toss it to would be far more effective as a blocker, which is illegal in rugby. If he's blocking instead of positioning for a lateral, the ball never goes backwards, never has that fairly high chance of becoming a fumble of some kind, and if the player lateraling doesn't time it right, the defender doesn't commit to the tackle and just runs right by, gaining nothing.
A planned lateral in football is extremely situational, success almost completely relying on catching the defense off guard, and it's almost always better to just block. If it occurs regularly and the defense isn't surprised, it's objectively worse.