Having watched his side scrap to a 40-30 victory over the Cheetahs at Eden Park on Saturday, a match which featured several puzzling decisions from Argentine referee Francisco Pastrana, the Blues coach is the latest high-profile name to call for another look at scrums.
Herald columnist and former All Blacks halfback Justin Marshall has called them a blight on the game.
Pastrana's odd rulings started from the first scrum of the match when halfback Sarel Pretorius was allowed to put the ball under hooker Adriaan Strauss's feet, but rather than the Blues being awarded a free-kick, it was the Cheetahs who won a kickable penalty.
The Blues, however, were the beneficiaries of several controversial decisions themselves, most notably when George Moala's try was awarded when it appeared to be a double movement, and when Cheetahs flanker Boom Prinsloo was sinbinned.
Kirwan said referees weren't to blame for his side's up-and-down form this season, but he was keen to put scrums on the agenda because they were taking away from how the game should be played.
Last year was the first in which scrums were altered to fold in, rather than collide, in order to prevent collapses. This year referees give a silent signal to the halfback putting the ball in after complaints that an audible command gave too much advantage to the opposing pack, but Kirwan said even that was too much.
"The biggest problem with the game is that we're letting the ref decide when the ball goes in," he said yesterday. "That's what needs to change and if we change that then the game changes."
Kirwan said before the season started the New Zealand franchise coaches asked ruling body Sanzar to allow halfbacks to put the ball in without the referee's command but their request had gone unheeded.
Scrums now have become so contested it is almost a disadvantage to be awarded one. Even allowing for the referee's silent command, the opposition pack has an automatic one-man advantage because their hooker is not striking for the ball.
A cue and put-in by a halfback could swing the advantage back and allow backlines to once more launch attacks off what would be a much more stable platform.
"Our forwards need to know when the ball is coming in, and if the opposition is good enough they can try to push us off it," Kirwan said.
"There's too much technical stuff for the ref to decide. And he's over the other side sometimes. It's a difficult thing to referee but we can't launch from scrums any more."
Skipper and loose forward Luke Braid said after the match: "It was hard for him [Pastrana] to tell who was cheating. It was tough for us with the movement before the ball was put in. It's hard for both sides when the scrum is moving two metres to one side - I think that probably could have been dealt with better."
While Kirwan said there was much to work on ahead of this Saturday's home match against the Highlanders, a bonus point victory after travelling back from South Africa was extremely valuable.
"Did we play as well as we can play? No. Was it scrappy? Yes. But we got five points which is the maximum that is available."
