News from the IRB about scrums.I can already hear the smirking of people relating to the put in being refereeing, but in my view, that is missing the point. Fact – referees cant look at more than one thing at once. If the front rows didnt mess around, then we wouldnt need to focus on them, and maybe watch the put in. They do, so we cant!
I do get a little tired at people blaming refs for all the mess. If the players didn’t try and cheat in this area, it would be simple. Rugby players don’t pass the ball forward (a law) but will do many things against scrum law. Why? Somehow, this all seems to come back to the referee, with very little comment/direction focussed on the players. Just a thought….
Key bit for me:
IRB policy which mandates that referees should crack down on illegal front row binding with a collective emphasis on ensuring that the tight head prop binds on the body of the loose head prop and not the arm and the loose head prop adopts the correct body position and binds on the body of the opposition tight head.
Looking forward to Saturday already!
Ref
IRB and 6N coaches commit to tackling scrum
(IRB.COM) Wednesday 26 January 2011
Coaches from the Six Nations participants pledge to work with the IRB to deliver a stable scrum platform at the elite levelCoaches from the RBS Six Nations participating Unions have thrown their support behind the IRB’s commitment to address scrum issues at the elite level of the Game.
Currently 60% of all scrums collapse in Tier 1 internationals and 40% of scrums are required to be reset while the average time taken to complete a scrum has risen from 41 seconds to 53.
Despite a slight decrease in the number of collapses and resets since the new engagement sequence was introduced last year, the IRB remains determined to tackle the issues and ensure that this critical facet of the Game is a spectacle and a contest.
Coaching representatives from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales pledged to work with the IRB to deliver a stable scrum platform at a highly positive and productive forum in London on Tuesday evening.
In addition to expressing their support for the scrum engagement sequence, the coaches also gave their backing to the IRB’s policy of the strict application of scrum Law, including ensuring straight put-ins. The coaches also support the IRB policy which mandates that referees should crack down on illegal front row binding with a collective emphasis on ensuring that the tight head prop binds on the body of the loose head prop and not the arm and the loose head prop adopts the correct body position and binds on the body of the opposition tight head.
This collaborative approach will be critical in assisting to address the problematic aspects of the scrum. Last year a similar approach agreed by all Tier 1 coaches led to a crackdown in key areas of Law: offside at the breakdown; offside from kicks; illegal maul formation and strict application of the tackle Law. This resulted in a return to attacking Rugby.
“The meeting was extremely constructive and highly productive. All found it beneficial and it was encouraging to see universal agreement from the coaches about the need to continue to penalise the clear and the obvious in the five key areas of Law and in particular the need to address the scrum issues that are currently experienced at elite level,” said IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien.
“We are encouraged that teams recognise there is a collective responsibility to ensure that the high number of collapses and resets is reduced. The coaches expressed their full support for referees to employ a zero tolerance policy towards engagement offences and have given a commitment that their teams will endeavour to be compliant in producing a stable, steady scrum by binding correctly. The scrum is an integral facet of the Game and by working together we can target the issues while ensuring that player welfare continues to be the most important consideration.”
A directive will be issued to all Unions reinforcing the message. The coaches forum has become a regular fixture ahead of the RBS Six Nations, Tri Nations, June and November Tests and underscores the IRB’s commitment to an open and transparent process of collaboration and communication between the IRB and its Member Unions in all areas of refereeing practice.
Surely the root of the problem is the ‘hit’ which has crept into the game over the last 20 years despite being entirely illegal. If you look at footage of games in the early ’90s there was no hit; the front rows simply folded down together & got on with the scrum. The hit is inherently destabilising; get rid of it & you’ll get rid of most of the collapses.
How is the hit illegal? As long as they do it on the engage command and they dont push through before ball is in, then there’s surely no issue of illegality?
It’s illegal because it is automatically an early shove. You always hear refs shout ‘take the hit’ – there shouldn’t be a hit because the hit is a shove & therefore illegal.
I couldn’t agree more. Take the ‘hit’ out and make sure the scrum is stable before the put in.
Hi, my u13’s team have just been penalised out of a game for the front rows binding on the arm, my players have claimed they were unable to grab the shirts as they were tight fit. From a safety point of view surely this is better than the scrum collapsing. Your views would be appreciated