When I played, they were loose scrums, and mauls were illegal, though they were mentioned in histories of the game. When you were tackled, you had to release the ball, whethere you were horizontal or vertical, and the ball had to be played by the feet before it could be handled. Anybody on the ground at a loose scrum would be penalised (even if unconscious). The term ruck only applied to what New Zealanders did to anybody on the ground. In the late 60s the Laws were changed to speed up the game so that you could now pick up direct from the tackle, and not long after, the maul re-entered the game.