World Rugby’s new law variations at scrum time has come under the spotlight in the Rugby Championship, especially when teams have take on the much-vaunted Springboks’ scrum.
The law changes were designed to speed up the game, as “a scrum must be set 30 seconds from when the mark for scrum is made by the referee. A free kick shall be awarded at place of scrum against the team causing the delay”.
But the team getting the free kick can’t opt for a scrum any more, as they can now only take a tap or kick the ball.
Many fans believe that the new law variations were designed to nullify the Springboks’ use of the scrum as one of their primary weapons. Remember the when Damian Willemse called mark and opted for a scrum in the Boks’ 22 in the World Cup quarter-final against France? You can no longer opt for a scrum in that situation either.
So, teams who are struggling at scrum time can now essentially delay the setting of the scrum and rather concede a free kick instead of penalty on the back of a retreating scrum.
This past Saturday in the Springboks’ Rugby Championship match against Argentina, it looked like they were purposefully trying to delay the scrum being set towards the end of the match after being hammered in that department for much of the clash.
Referee Christophe Ridley, however, remained patient and let the scrum continue.
Earlier in the Rugby Championship, Australia had almost all their props go off with “head injuries” which resulted in uncontested scrums against the dominant Bok pack. For normal injuries, the team who can’t scrum must go down to 14 players if the referee calls for uncontested scrums. But for head injuries, they are allowed to have 15 on the park.
It seemed really dodgy, although the Wallabies have denied any wrongdoing. The Springboks, however, have asked World Rugby for the matter to be investigated.
So this weekend, will we see Argentina try and use the “dark arts” to get avoid being taken to the cleaners by Ox Nche and company? Will they try and delay the scrums to get a free kick?
SA Rugby’s national laws advisor Jaco Peyper doesn’t think so, but says there will be a workshop to close these loop holes in the new law variations.
“They [Argentina] are competitive, they will scrum against us. They will be better this week and we will be better,” Peyper said. “I believe Argentina are too competitive, they won’t go that route.
“The law trials are working well according to the data. The one thing though - and there will be a workshop about it - you can get uncontested scrums without losing a player. The HIA [head injurt assessment] procedure can be abused if someone fakes a head injury.”
@JohnGoliath82