A Maul A maul occurs when the ball carrier runs into contact with another player, but doesn't get taken to the ground. And much like rucks, mauls are also similar in nature to a tug-of-war contest wanting the ball, the difference being that someone is stuck in the middle of the tug-of war and the point is to win the ball over by pushing the other team yards and pulling at the ball to get it to one of your players to maybe ending up into a break away. If given enough time, mauls can grow in size to the point that they're essentially the same size as scrums, but more mobile. More about mauling; Both sides continue to drive against each other try to get a grip of the ball. The maul continues until the ball is played out, the maul stops moving forward (the direction of 'forward' decided by the team that entered the maul with the ball), or the ball (and usually the entire group of players involved) goes to the ground. A maul only exists so long as the ball carrier stays up, and the ball stays with a player in the maul. If the ball carrier's knee touches the ground, or the ball leaves the maul, it’s over. Also, if a maul stalemates to the point that neither team advances, the referee can stop it and call for a scrumdown to restart play.
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