Law discussion: Scrums vs high octane
SANZAR held a camp in Sydney to prepare referees for 2015 Super Rugby. Recently Lyndon Bray held a media question session on refereeing for the advent of 2015's Super Rugby.
There was a lot of emphasis on the 'high-octane' game which was the best in the world.
And then came the scrums, reaching their nadir in Brisbane this past Saturday.
The match was played at Suncorp Stadium, when Brisbane was experiencing exceptionally wet weather – 300 mm of rain in a short while, which may have had its influence on the scumming in that match, but then it was not great in Dunedin with its closed roof either.
At one stage in Brisbane there was a period of over 17 minutes, in which there were seven scrums and a few other incidentals – an injury, the tying of a bootlace, a penalty kick that hit an upright, a knock-on, a dart by Will Genia who was held up over the line, and a forward pass to Chris Feauai-Sautia which led to a consultation with the TMO and six replays and another scrum which ended with a penalty try.
In the match there were 18 painful scrums. The first time the Force put the ball into a scrum, it collapsed and prop Francois van Wyk was taken off with a seriously injured shoulder. This was not warning enough for the match's horrible scumming record – 18 scrums, 17 collapses, 15 resets, 5 penalties and a penalty try, and 2 free kicks. Not one scrum was a simple put-in and out without any other problem – not one. Two scrums which collapsed were allowed to proceed by a referee who was must have been desperate.
Brisbane had had rain but the playing surface looked much better than Kings Park in Durban where water stood free on most of the surface, which made the scrum problems there more understandable. They were far from perfect in Durban but not as imperfect as in Brisbane.
Here are some scrum stats from the seven matches over the weekend.
Chiefs vs Brumbies: 14 scrums, 5 collapses, 4 resets, 7 penalties, 0 free kicks. Natural starts and finishes: 5
Rebels vs Waratahs: 19 scrums, 16 collapses, 6 resets, 6 penalties, 1 free kick. Natural starts and finishes: 5
Highlanders vs Crusaders: 16 scrums, 13 collapses, 12 resets, 1 penalty, 4 free kicks. Natural starts and finishes: 0
Reds vs Force: 18 scrums, 17 collapses, 15 resets, 5 penalties and 1 penalty try, 2 free kicks. Natural starts and finishes: 0
Bulls vs Hurricanes: 16 scrums, 5 collapses, 4 resets, 4 penalties. Natural starts and finishes: 9
Stormers vs Blues: 12 scrums, 9 collapses, 5 resets, 4 penalties, 2 free kicks: Natural starts and finishes: 2
Sharks vs Lions: 14 scrums, 10 collapses, 5 resets, 7 penalties, 2 free kicks. Natural starts and finishes: 3
Of 109 scrums, 75 collapsed. 75 in 7 matches. That is nearly 10 a match – despite low counts in Sydney and Pretoria. Of the 109 scrums 24 had natural starts and finishes – just over three per match.
And we are talking about high octane rugby. scumming is negating that aim. If entertainment remains the game's top priority, it will inevitably lead to a defusing of the scrum and a radical change to the soul of rugby football.
Blame the referees?
That is hardly entirely fair as referees do not drop scrums, but they should be encouraged to apply the laws as currently written to ensure credibility at scrum time. If there are laws that do not apply or laws that are not there but are applied, changes should be made accordingly. If foot-up does not apply, scrap it. If standing up in a scrum is a penalty, put it into the laws.
But playing according to the Laws of the Game is primarily the players' responsibility.
SANZAR this year said that hookers were to hook. It's not happening and cunning scrumhalves resort to putting the ball clearly into their side, and they do so with impunity. One felt for the Lions. Their scrumhalf continued to put the ball in straight even if his side were being shoved around in scrums, and his team suffered as a result.
Certainly scumming in Super Rugby needs attention if we are to have greater safety, credibility and the high-octane game we were promised.
By Paul Dobson
@rugby365com
