Laws: The Scrum
At the National Referees’ course at Newlands and the provincial Referees’ course at Hartebeesthoek in January, scrumming dominated discussion of law application. Scrumming is one of the Big Four along with Tackle, Offside and Maul.
There is no change of scrum law or any new application. What was discussed was sheer application, proper application to avoid the mess that is modern scrumming when 12% of a rugby match at the top level is spent resetting scrums. And beyond that the scrum is potentially a dangerous phase of play.
Tappe Henning said: “Getting the scrumming right is a joint responsibility of players, coaches and referees.”
At the National Referees’ course and afternoon was spent at the Stormers’ practice facility at Bellville. The Stormers produced two packs of forwards and the referees were given a chance to referee the scrums. It went on for some time under the watchful eyes of Matthew Proudfoot, the Stormers’ forward coach, and Balie Swart, the referees’ scrumming coach – both formerly international props, Proudfoot for Scotland and Swart for South Africa with whom he won a winners medal as a player in 1995 and another as a coach in 2007.
Swart was again at the Hartebeesthoek and here the referees did the scrumming – all aspects of scrumming.
The following aspects of application emerged:
1. In the set-up props must be square and they and aligned to go into the engagement straight – spine in line.
The hooker’s feet must be square, that is parallel to the goal-lines. If they are not square, he will not push straight.
When both teams are set-up, the referee starts the engagement sequence.
2. The engagement sequence – Crouch Touch Pause Engage – is not negotiable, and it must be consistent.
Swart was at great pains to get the referees to call their commands loudly and clearly enough and with adequate pauses. There is little to be gained by a careless, sing-song approach running words into each other – crouchtouchpauseengage. The referees who were clearest in their engagement procedure had less trouble with scrums.
At the Provincial referees’ course, Swart would catch a referee’s eye and hold up a finger. The referee then had to call his commands. If it was not loud enough, he had to do it again. This continued throughout the course.
The players should know the calls before they start the match. This can be done in the changing room well before kick-off. Teams prefer that such talk be held well before kick-off and can be done at the time of the boot and clothing inspection
Both front rows must crouch and at the same level.
If a player’s pulls out and says he ids not ready, referees should accept it but not repeatedly. Second time war, third time free kick.
If front row players do not crouch, the referee is to award a free kick.
If players – all players – do not touch, the referee is to award a free kick.
If players do not pause, i.e. hitting in too soon, the referee is to award a free kick.
If players do not engage on the command, the referee is to award a free kick against them.
On the Engage call, props must bind and maintain a bind though the law allows props to change their bind.
Law 20.3 (a) Binding by all front row players. All front row players must bind firmly and continuously from the start to the finish of the scrum.
Sanction: Penalty kick
(c) Binding by loose head props. A loose head prop must bind on the opposing tight head prop by placing the left arm inside the right arm of the tight head and gripping the tight head prop’s jersey on the back or side. The loose head prop must not grip the chest, arm, sleeve or collar of the opposition tight head prop. The loose head prop must not exert any
downward pressure.
Sanction: Penalty kick
(d) Binding by tight head props. A tight head prop must bind on the opposing loose head prop by placing the right arm outside the left upper arm of the opposing loose head prop. The tight head prop must grip the loose head prop’s jersey with the right hand only on the back or side. The tight head prop must not grip the chest, arm, sleeve or collar of the opposition
loose head prop. The tight head prop must not exert any downward pressure.
Sanction: Penalty kick
(e) Both the loose head and tight head props may alter their bind providing they do so in accordance with this Law.
Binding is to be checked and the angle of the bodies.
The direction of the shove of front row players needs to be checked. Often the position of a foot is a good indication of the direction of the shove. Often a referee will stand with his hands on top of each side as this can tell him the direction of the shove.
Just two points:
Standing up in the front row is not an infringement; pushing an opponent up in the front row is an infringement.
Wheeling is legal; the whipwheel is illegal. The whipwheel involves pulling and the loosehead of the wheeling team usually moves out from the scrum, giving his tighthead opponent nothing to push on. The loosehead them moves as quickly as he can.
