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Dysfunctional scrums - the agony continues
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<blockquote data-quote="smartcooky" data-source="post: 825723" data-attributes="member: 20605"><p>Nope, the number one cause of scrum dysfunction is front row players cheating and using illegal, and sometimes dangerous scrummaging techniques to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents. The proof of that is that a large percentage (perhaps even half) of the trouble starts before the ball is even fed, so the feed cannot have anything to do with that.</p><p></p><p>There are several key illegal techniques that front rowers use to cause problems at the scrum. In no particular order, they are</p><p></p><p><strong>Collapse at the engagement</strong></p><p>Coming from too high and angling at the ground</p><p>Shoulders below hips before engage call</p><p></p><p><strong>Collapse after the engagement</strong></p><p>Incorrect binding</p><p>Tighthead working the Loosehead down</p><p>Dropping the bind after the scrum is set</p><p>The team throwing in deliberately dropping the scrum prior to feed to get reset due to an early wheel</p><p>The team throwing in dropping the scrum to buy a penalty</p><p></p><p><strong>Popping the scrum after the engagement</strong></p><p>Loosehead prop working under the Tighthead prop and driving up</p><p>Hooker standing up due to Tighthead prop boring in</p><p>Hooker or Tighthead standing up to try and milk the penalty</p><p></p><p>Generally, if a scrum collapses illegally, it is far more like to be the tighthead causing the problem. If it pops illegally, its more likely to be the loosehead at fault</p><p></p><p>I am firmly of the opinion that one of the root causes of all the scrum trouble does not reside in the scrum itself, but in certain teams' attitudes to scrummaging at the top level, where they use a dominant scrum as a scoring machine, to buy a penalty, instead of using the scrum for what the Laws say it is supposed to be for... <em>"The purpose of the scrum is to restart play quickly, safely and fairly, after a minor infringement or a stoppage"</em> (Law 20 Definition of a scrum).</p><p></p><p>It is high time that referees at the top level started to referee scrum the same way its done in the weeds. There are hardly any troubles with scrums at the lower levels because the referees at those level ensure.....</p><p></p><p>1. The scrum is square and stable before the throw in</p><p>2. The packs push each other straight and level</p><p>3. Dropping of the bind is immediately penalised</p><p>4. "Pinching", "twisting", pulling down and driving up is immediately penalised </p><p></p><p>However, the problem with the <strong>attitude</strong> to scrummaging at the upper levels of the game are more difficult to address and will require some <em>"outside the box"</em> thinking. I have a solution to this part of the problem. If teams wont change their attitude, then WR need to consider taking away the incentive - make all scrum penalties an Indirect Penalty, which I envisage as being something between a Penalty Kick and a Free Kick;</p><p></p><p>► Like a Penalty Kick, you can kick directly into touch with a gain in ground and you get the throw in to the line-out</p><p>► Like a Free Kick, you cannot kick for goal or use it to kick a dropped goal under the same Law 21 restrictions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="smartcooky, post: 825723, member: 20605"] Nope, the number one cause of scrum dysfunction is front row players cheating and using illegal, and sometimes dangerous scrummaging techniques to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents. The proof of that is that a large percentage (perhaps even half) of the trouble starts before the ball is even fed, so the feed cannot have anything to do with that. There are several key illegal techniques that front rowers use to cause problems at the scrum. In no particular order, they are [B]Collapse at the engagement[/B] Coming from too high and angling at the ground Shoulders below hips before engage call [B]Collapse after the engagement[/B] Incorrect binding Tighthead working the Loosehead down Dropping the bind after the scrum is set The team throwing in deliberately dropping the scrum prior to feed to get reset due to an early wheel The team throwing in dropping the scrum to buy a penalty [B]Popping the scrum after the engagement[/B] Loosehead prop working under the Tighthead prop and driving up Hooker standing up due to Tighthead prop boring in Hooker or Tighthead standing up to try and milk the penalty Generally, if a scrum collapses illegally, it is far more like to be the tighthead causing the problem. If it pops illegally, its more likely to be the loosehead at fault I am firmly of the opinion that one of the root causes of all the scrum trouble does not reside in the scrum itself, but in certain teams' attitudes to scrummaging at the top level, where they use a dominant scrum as a scoring machine, to buy a penalty, instead of using the scrum for what the Laws say it is supposed to be for... [I]"The purpose of the scrum is to restart play quickly, safely and fairly, after a minor infringement or a stoppage"[/I] (Law 20 Definition of a scrum). It is high time that referees at the top level started to referee scrum the same way its done in the weeds. There are hardly any troubles with scrums at the lower levels because the referees at those level ensure..... 1. The scrum is square and stable before the throw in 2. The packs push each other straight and level 3. Dropping of the bind is immediately penalised 4. "Pinching", "twisting", pulling down and driving up is immediately penalised However, the problem with the [B]attitude[/B] to scrummaging at the upper levels of the game are more difficult to address and will require some [I]"outside the box"[/I] thinking. I have a solution to this part of the problem. If teams wont change their attitude, then WR need to consider taking away the incentive - make all scrum penalties an Indirect Penalty, which I envisage as being something between a Penalty Kick and a Free Kick; ► Like a Penalty Kick, you can kick directly into touch with a gain in ground and you get the throw in to the line-out ► Like a Free Kick, you cannot kick for goal or use it to kick a dropped goal under the same Law 21 restrictions. [/QUOTE]
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