Oh I see, so when a maul collapses, since it is the player with the ball at the base of the maul the one that collapses into a ruck, the ball is playable and therefore play continues. But if the ball is in the centre of the maul when it collapses, then it isn't playable.

That being the case, it does feel as if the choke tackle is using a loophole to do something that isn't in the spirit of the game. The game has changed in a small way because teams have realised that this can be done easily. If you're into playing the game traditionally, then I think it would make sense to change the rules of the game to stop this happening. That said, I do like watching a choke tackle. I find it fairly entertaining tbh.