Compliance report - 6N 5, S14 7 & 8

Instructions have gone out from the IRB, giving a new procedure of scrum engagement and insisting on putting the ball straight into scrums, not stamping and not showing dissent. We have a little look at compliance after five weeks of Six Nations and eight weeks of Super 14.

That means there have been 15 Six Nations matches and 52 Super 14 matches. In those matches there were 5360 minutes of rugby, 1274 scrums.

1. Engagement procedure

The referees are complying and the teams are. But is it working?

Of the 1274 scrums in those matches, 529 have been reset – 42,5%.

We could look at resets as a gauge. It would seem that initially there was an improvement but then things returned to normal as players found got used to the new procedure and continued with their flawed ways,.

There have been some matches where things were a lot better and others that were execrable.

When the Crusaders played the Reds there were no resets.

When the Force played the Reds there were 17 scrums with 19 resets, four free kicks and five penalties. On 28 occasions scrums came to unnatural endings. Surely that’s no good. When the Crusaders played the Stormers, the Stormers put the ball into 14 scrums with 10 resets, a free kick and two penalties. At one stage the referee warned the front row players that he would send them off should this persist. The commentator said that that was outside his jurisdiction but it’s not. A referee is allowed to send players off for repeated infringement. They could then be replaced by bench players or the game could degenerate into uncontested scrums. Uncontested scrums are not desirable but nor ids the spectacle of scrum after scrum collapsing onto the ground.

When the Reds played the Chiefs there were 7 resets of 29 scrums (24%), considerably below the weekend’s average of 41%. There the referee stood back from the scrum as he gave his fourfold instructions, still clearly. He was behind the scrumhalf. This enabled the scrumhalf to put the ball immediately, which may have been a part cause of the low proportion of collapsed scrums.

Generally referees stand at the mouth which means that they must get out of the way before the scrumhalf can feed the scrum.

In the first week of Super 14 2006, 62 scrums out of 136 were reset – 45%
In the first week of Six Nations 2006, 24 scrums out of 60 were reset – 40%

In the first week of Super 14 2007, 41 scrums out of 134 were reset – 30%
In the first week of Six Nations 2007, 22 scrums out of 48 were reset – 46%

In the second week of Super 14 2007, 37 scrums were reset out of 128 – 29%
In the second week of Six Nations 2007, 15 scrums out of 53 were reset – 28%

In the third week of Super 14 2007, 35 scrums were reset out of 146 – 24%

In the fourth week of Super 14 2007, 32 scrums were reset out of 107 – 30%
In the third week of Six Nations, 21 scrums were reset out of 47 – 45%

In the fifth week of Super 14 2007, 54 scrums were reset out of 146 – 37%

In the sixth week of Super 14 2007, 45 scrums were reset out of 127 – 35%
In the fourth week of Six Nations, 22 scrums were reset out of 55 – 40%

In the seventh week of Super 14 2007, 49 scrums were reset out of 130 – 38%
In the fifth week of Six Nations 2007, 21 scrums were reset out of 49 – 43%

In the eighth week of Super 14 2007, 49 scrums were reset out of 119 – 41%

The number of free kicks at scrums:

Six Nations:

Week 1: 5
Week 2: 5
Week 3: 5
Week 4: 5
Week 5: 10

Super 14:

Week 1: 2
Week 2: 6
Week 3: 13
Week 4: 13
Week 5: 11
Week 6: 10
Week 7: 8
Week 8: 10

The number of penalties at scrums:

Six Nations:

Week 1: 2
Week 2: 3
Week 3: 6
Week 4: 2
Week 5: 2

Super 14:

Week 1: 6
Week 2: 8
Week 3: 15
Week 4: 10
Week 5: 8
Week 6: 7
Week 7: 14
Week 8: 7

2. Put it in straight

In the last week of Six Nations there was a free kick for a crooked feed in the Italy-Ireland match. In Super 14 there were three in the Reds-Chiefs match – 4 in 298 matches.

3. Stamping

This is almost dead. Johan Ackermann and Anton Oliver are the only players penalised for stamping in 15 matches.

4. Dissent

The biggest expression of dissent this week came from Al Baxter whose dissent was quoted in the press, saying how he believed he was a target for referees wanting to go to the World Cup – which was unkind.

The referees in Super 14 are using the captains to combat dissent. It is noticeable that they address the captains by their first names.

So when the referee – quite rightly – penalised Anton Oliver for baulking at a line-out throw, he spoke to the captain: “It’s quite obvious what the free kick was for. We don’t need to hear anything else from them.”

In the Lions match, when Tana Umaga objected, the referee said to Tana Umaga: “We’re not going to go on like that for 40 minutes. Leave the decisions to me. You go back and play.”

Cricket would not approve of the amount and nature of rugby dissent but soccer would love to have it!