The problem with the materialistic philosophy Cooky is that the rapid downhill descent into scrum dysfunction is inevitable as per the current shambles. Yes it's perfectly true with a highly skilled hooker heeling in channel 1 that opportunities to win the ball against the head are very few. I often used to take a look at my opposite number at the first scrum on their ball to judge his proficiency - then have a 'chat' with him accordingly - against the most skilled I often wouldn't get a smell, but I was always alive to the prospect that the guy might just make an error - get out of step with the SH - and then I'd nick it off him. But skill and a proper technical contest are the watchwords here - and coupled with a hooker with fast feet - very quick very useable ball results. The focus is on winning the ball - not extorting penalties. Bent feeding prevents any of that.
Bent feeding is a destroyer of skill - do we really want our game radically de-skilled? Anyone care to comment on that? Bent feeding gives us a contest for penalties - not the ball - the ball produced by a bent scrum is so slow its pretty much useless and not worth having. In coaching their packs to extort penalties, coaches are not interested in the ball - it's a complete irrelevance. This is NOT what our scrum should be for.
Cooky's point about the ball fed reasonably straight stopping in the middle of the front rows because neither side have a hooker - only a lineout thrower making up the numbers in the front row is right on. The skills to heel (hook) the ball - and a highly technical skilled job it is - are absent. Bent feeding has destroyed the skills required - so we have the frankly ridiculous sight of two well matched packs trying to push the other off the ball...and time goes by, even scrum passionistas like me get bored and irritated in the extreme - ridicule is on view, it's an abject embarrassment. Eventually the ball emerges - so pathetically slow it's useless ball - why bother?
Stats in the press today produced to fuel the pre-match verbal jousting of Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika on scrums show the damning truth about penalty fest modern scrums - both side are pinged at scrums about 43% of the time...how incredibly negative is that? Then the 50% odd of scrums that survive the whistle produce useless possession - a waste of everyone's time. I ask again - how can this possibly be justified? WR - are silent on the matter - they're failing - why?
Bent feeding is a destroyer of skill - do we really want our game radically de-skilled? Anyone care to comment on that? Bent feeding gives us a contest for penalties - not the ball - the ball produced by a bent scrum is so slow its pretty much useless and not worth having. In coaching their packs to extort penalties, coaches are not interested in the ball - it's a complete irrelevance. This is NOT what our scrum should be for.
Cooky's point about the ball fed reasonably straight stopping in the middle of the front rows because neither side have a hooker - only a lineout thrower making up the numbers in the front row is right on. The skills to heel (hook) the ball - and a highly technical skilled job it is - are absent. Bent feeding has destroyed the skills required - so we have the frankly ridiculous sight of two well matched packs trying to push the other off the ball...and time goes by, even scrum passionistas like me get bored and irritated in the extreme - ridicule is on view, it's an abject embarrassment. Eventually the ball emerges - so pathetically slow it's useless ball - why bother?
Stats in the press today produced to fuel the pre-match verbal jousting of Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika on scrums show the damning truth about penalty fest modern scrums - both side are pinged at scrums about 43% of the time...how incredibly negative is that? Then the 50% odd of scrums that survive the whistle produce useless possession - a waste of everyone's time. I ask again - how can this possibly be justified? WR - are silent on the matter - they're failing - why?