VIDEO: Scrum dominance - where SA teams got it wrong

The United Rugby Championship Head of Match Officials, Tappe Henning, has vehemently denied that there had been any directive to ‘speed up’ the scrum process or take the ‘contest’ out of the set piece.

There were sighs of exasperation and clear signs of frustration from South African teams in Round One of the URC.

Most of this was around the scrums and the match officials’ apparent unwillingness to award teams’ dominance.

Some coaches ‘hinted’ that they thought referees were rather sympathetic to the opposition.

Then there were the odd penalty counts.

The Stormers, despite their clear set-piece dominance in the 35-0 whitewash of defending champions Leinster, were penalised six times in the scrums and just three times in general play.

The Lions, another powerful scrummaging unit from the Republic, conceded three set-piece penalties in their 20-33 loss to Cardiff.

However, Henning said there is not out of the ordinary from match officials.

“We understand that the South African teams enjoy scrummaging,” Henning told @rugby365com.

(WATCH as URC Head of Match Officials, Tappe Henning, chats to Jan de Koning about some concerning set-piece trends…..)

He said, from a match official’s perspective, when the ball has been won and the scrum is not moving forward, the referee can call ‘use it’.

Henning added that there is room for teams to still apply pressure and use their scrum power.

“We allow teams to keep the ball in the second row,” he said, adding: “That gives them a little more time to start to work pressure.

“We know that scrum dominance does not come the moment you put the ball in.

“It is a process of applying pressure, pressure and pressure, until the pressure [opposition’s resistance] breaks.

“However, teams can’t sit there for an extended period and wait for momentum to come.”

Henning reiterated that keeping the ball in the second row allows teams to apply pressure.

“If that forward momentum doesn’t start, they need to work the ball back to the No.8,” he added.

“Once the ball gets to the back of the scrum and it still does not move for three to five seconds, the referee will then call: ‘Use it’.

“The team is then expected to play the ball away in a reasonable amount of time.”

This means teams need to adjust and keep the ball in the second row, not by the No.8’s feet, if they want time to start working pressure.

@rugby365com