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Dysfunctional scrums - the agony continues
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<blockquote data-quote="Dunhookin" data-source="post: 825834" data-attributes="member: 74570"><p>Good post Cooky - well reasoned and well written. The most significant point you make is in player attitude - spot on - not just players, the attitude of coaches in some cases fuels the problem also. So entrenched is scrum dysfunction that the pre match mantra of players and coaches is to see the set piece as solely a means of screwing penalties out of the referee - and nothing else. </p><p></p><p>The points you make about the causes of scrum dysfunction are all indeed component parts - but the root cause and the denominator of it all is bent feeding. Here's why. Players need a means of competing with each other - straight feeding provides an opportunity to compete for the ball - bent feeding denies that opportunity. As it's not possible to compete for possession, players instead compete for penalties, by using some of the tactics you mention - to force (screw) a penalty out of the opposition or hoodwink an often bamboozled referee into giving one. </p><p></p><p>Consider that a moment - our set scrum, one of the very key identities of our game, has degenerated into a cesspool of negativity and become a penalty fest. It's a depressing reality and one that WR should be highly alarmed about and pulling out the stops to correct.</p><p></p><p>Instead they create false dawns, claim they're going to take action on bent feeding - which fizzles out pretty quickly. They're consistently incompetent. Referees lecture front rows often - for what exactly? The body language of the players speaks volumes about how derisory they regard the verbal salvoes - having held the game up presumably re-iterating the adherence to scrum laws, they do precisely nothing when the ball is rolled through the LH's legs. It's an absolute farce. </p><p></p><p>The problems of collapses and resets - Jiffy recently said that this was 'killing the game' - anyone care to disagree? Pre-bind should all but eliminate collapses, the fact that it's a chronic problem is another symptom of scrum dysfunction. Why are there so many collapses? We're back to the issue of players looking for a competitive element - and their corrosive pre-conceived mindset to screw penalties from the scrum. </p><p></p><p>Players getting buckled up for a scrum know before they start that with bent feeding there is no possible way to compete for the ball. So they're mentally prepared to contest for penalties - the ball is irrelevant. Were straight feeding restored and properly enforced - consistent application of the existing law is ALL that is required - then teams would be forced to field a hooker capable of striking the ball - or risk losing it. </p><p></p><p>This would focus their attention on ensuring they won the ball - and much less on trying to screw penalties. RWC 15, these nations fielded hookers who were actually hookers in that they hooked the ball producing fast usable possession in the process. </p><p>Canada, Ireland, Japan, NZ and USA. Whereas pretty much everybody else reverted to type - tedious penalty after tedious penalty - scrums that survived the whistle were ruined by bent feeding and the tediously slow worthless ball that results. Purgatory to watch. </p><p></p><p>Taking the role traditionally, when picking the best XV of the tournament - the best actual hooker was the Japanese lad. Technically his skill levels were the best on view - as was his striking speed. An excellent example of scrum functionality and (for the most part) straight feeding - watch the Ireland/Canada game, both sides producing fast runnable ball from their set piece - barely a scrum penalty in the whole game. </p><p></p><p>Cooky you mention TH's boring on the hooker - traditionally the purpose of doing this is to 'pin' the hooker into a position where he a) can't see the ball and b) can't move his feet to strike. I had this done to me many times in my playing days - done right it's very very uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of - and the reward for the destructive TH, was his team winning the ball against the head. It can be countered - as long as the LH has the physical and mental strength to do what's necessary. These days the only motivation for the TH is yet another negative tactic of - you've guessed it - screwing more penalties. Dire. </p><p></p><p>WR are failing our game - and all of us traditional rugby passionistas - with their myopia and their incompetence. Bent feeding is a disease - de-skilling a key traditional role at the very core of rugby's very identity - our set scrum. Time to call them out on it - come tell us WR why the deeply embarrassing scrum debacle of your making can possibly be acceptable</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dunhookin, post: 825834, member: 74570"] Good post Cooky - well reasoned and well written. The most significant point you make is in player attitude - spot on - not just players, the attitude of coaches in some cases fuels the problem also. So entrenched is scrum dysfunction that the pre match mantra of players and coaches is to see the set piece as solely a means of screwing penalties out of the referee - and nothing else. The points you make about the causes of scrum dysfunction are all indeed component parts - but the root cause and the denominator of it all is bent feeding. Here's why. Players need a means of competing with each other - straight feeding provides an opportunity to compete for the ball - bent feeding denies that opportunity. As it's not possible to compete for possession, players instead compete for penalties, by using some of the tactics you mention - to force (screw) a penalty out of the opposition or hoodwink an often bamboozled referee into giving one. Consider that a moment - our set scrum, one of the very key identities of our game, has degenerated into a cesspool of negativity and become a penalty fest. It's a depressing reality and one that WR should be highly alarmed about and pulling out the stops to correct. Instead they create false dawns, claim they're going to take action on bent feeding - which fizzles out pretty quickly. They're consistently incompetent. Referees lecture front rows often - for what exactly? The body language of the players speaks volumes about how derisory they regard the verbal salvoes - having held the game up presumably re-iterating the adherence to scrum laws, they do precisely nothing when the ball is rolled through the LH's legs. It's an absolute farce. The problems of collapses and resets - Jiffy recently said that this was 'killing the game' - anyone care to disagree? Pre-bind should all but eliminate collapses, the fact that it's a chronic problem is another symptom of scrum dysfunction. Why are there so many collapses? We're back to the issue of players looking for a competitive element - and their corrosive pre-conceived mindset to screw penalties from the scrum. Players getting buckled up for a scrum know before they start that with bent feeding there is no possible way to compete for the ball. So they're mentally prepared to contest for penalties - the ball is irrelevant. Were straight feeding restored and properly enforced - consistent application of the existing law is ALL that is required - then teams would be forced to field a hooker capable of striking the ball - or risk losing it. This would focus their attention on ensuring they won the ball - and much less on trying to screw penalties. RWC 15, these nations fielded hookers who were actually hookers in that they hooked the ball producing fast usable possession in the process. Canada, Ireland, Japan, NZ and USA. Whereas pretty much everybody else reverted to type - tedious penalty after tedious penalty - scrums that survived the whistle were ruined by bent feeding and the tediously slow worthless ball that results. Purgatory to watch. Taking the role traditionally, when picking the best XV of the tournament - the best actual hooker was the Japanese lad. Technically his skill levels were the best on view - as was his striking speed. An excellent example of scrum functionality and (for the most part) straight feeding - watch the Ireland/Canada game, both sides producing fast runnable ball from their set piece - barely a scrum penalty in the whole game. Cooky you mention TH's boring on the hooker - traditionally the purpose of doing this is to 'pin' the hooker into a position where he a) can't see the ball and b) can't move his feet to strike. I had this done to me many times in my playing days - done right it's very very uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of - and the reward for the destructive TH, was his team winning the ball against the head. It can be countered - as long as the LH has the physical and mental strength to do what's necessary. These days the only motivation for the TH is yet another negative tactic of - you've guessed it - screwing more penalties. Dire. WR are failing our game - and all of us traditional rugby passionistas - with their myopia and their incompetence. Bent feeding is a disease - de-skilling a key traditional role at the very core of rugby's very identity - our set scrum. Time to call them out on it - come tell us WR why the deeply embarrassing scrum debacle of your making can possibly be acceptable [/QUOTE]
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