Despite the introduction of new laws, scrums continue to be a problem area for players and officials. ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire offers his thoughts on how to improve one of the game's fundamental set-pieces.
After the introduction of the new scrum laws earlier this year, it was hoped that many of the problems surrounding this area of the game would be alleviated.
While they are certainly on the right track, there are still holes in the new system which continue to make them a messy affair.
There are still too many collapses, too many penalties and too much time being eaten up. It is certainly not an easy fix, but here are a few ideas which could help in making them run a bit smoother.
Let the halfback decide when to put the ball in
This was the most obvious flaw in the new laws and one that almost everyone recognised instantly. The halfback should not have to be told when to put the ball in by the referee, particularly when the scrum is steady and there is nothing stopping him doing so. Too many times there have been instances where the referee has waited too long to allow the halfback to feed the ball and the scrum has subsequently collapsed. This will almost certainly be changed next time the engagement system is looked at, so we will leave it at that.
A ‘Use It' call when the ball is at the back
Most collapses and infringements over the past few months have come when one team has a dominant scrum over their opponent. In these cases the team makes use of this advantage for all it is worth, keeping the ball in the scrum and applying pressure even when the ball is available, knowing that eventually the other team will infringe. You really cannot get a more negative game plan and it provides great incentive to pick a strong scrum and just try to kick penalties, negating the need to actually play rugby.
What if a ‘use it' call was made once the ball got to the back of the scrum in a similar way to in the rucks and mauls? Perhaps it would not have to constitute actually using it, but at this point there should at least be the assumption that a penalty will not be given should the scrum collapse, as the ball is available for the attacking team to use. It seems to make much more sense, especially when the alternative results in penalising and in some cases carding players, simply because they are struggling at scrum time.
Of course the counter-argument for this is that it takes the pushover out of the game. But how often do we see pushover scrums these days anyway?
There will always be collapses and penalties, but making this rule change would go a long way to fixing a lot of the problems simply by virtue of changing the mindset regarding the scrum. You are still able to get front foot ball for your backline, which should be the real benefit of having a good scrum, not milking it for everything it is worth.
Wear real rugby jerseys
You have to wonder how much the jerseys the players are wearing have to do with the problems with binding. While this has become far less of a problem in recent times with the new laws requiring the players to bind prior to the engagement, it would not hurt for them to be wearing jerseys that were easier to bind to. One of the main purposes of creating these ‘new' style jerseys was to make them harder for defenders to grab. This also makes them harder to bind on to at scrum time and results in more collapses.
Referee calls
If we really must use referee calls, they need to be delivered quickly, as when they take too long the packs are inevitably going to lose balance as 900kg is a lot of weight to hold steady. Perhaps we do not even need them. It has only been in the past 15 years that the referee has controlled the engagement of the scrums and we see far more scrums collapse now than we did then.
That said, scrums are now a much more focal point of the game as everyone is trying to get one up on the other. So maybe they do need a little extra control, but just a little food for thought.
If all else fails, go to golden-oldies?
Seriously, this might very well be the best option; this is uncontested scrums for those of you unfamiliar with the terminology. While scrums are undoubtedly a central part of rugby, they should not become the central part of rugby. Currently they are causing too many problems and are detracting from the rest of the game.
Rugby league has done a similar thing and it definitely makes for a game which flows far better. While this would be a last-resort, it would be better than watching games spoilt by scrum collapses and penalties. Although can you imagine the outcry from Europe and Argentina if this happened?
