Trial: New scrum sequence
The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup 2013 will provide the backdrop for a revised scrum engagement trial featuring props binding on the "touch" call.
The move is part of what the IRB says is its "ongoing commitment to improving issues currently associated with the scrum in elite rugby while promoting the best-possible player welfare standards."
The annual IRB-funded development tournament, which features A sides from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Japan as well as development sides from the Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby franchises and national academy sides, will provide the necessary evaluation platform to address the revised sequence that is hoped will reduce the impact of the 'hit' while increasing overall scrum stability.
The "crouch", "touch", "set" engagement calls currently being trialled globally are maintained within the PRC trial but in a revision to the technique of engagement, props will be expected to bind using their outside arm after the referee has called "touch" in the sequence.
The front-rows will maintain the bind and the referee will then call "set" and the two packs will be permitted to engage. In this sequence, with the props bound, the "set" call is not a command to engage, but an instruction that the front-rows may come together when ready.
The trial process was identified by the specialist IRB Scrum Steering Group (featuring Union scrum experts) as a potential enhancement to the scrum mechanics after an extensive process of testing and analysis at all levels of the game within the unprecedented IRB funded Scrum Forces Project run by the University of Bath in conjunction with the RFU.
Key aims of the trial are to reduce the force upon engagement and therefore promote the best-possible player welfare standards at all levels, while delivering a more stable scrum to reduce the number of collapses and resets prevalent at the elite level. Early projections are that the force upon engagement could be reduced by some 25 per cent, enhancing player welfare and promoting a more stable scrum. However, the trial in a live competition will determine how successful the sequence can be.
"The scrum is a complex and dynamic area of the game and we are committed to working with our Unions to facilitate the best possible platform to enhance player welfare, stability and the contest itself," said IRB Rugby Committee Chairman and IRB Scrum Steering Group member Graham Mourie.
"The trial will be accompanied by a dedicated training and education programme for participating teams and match officials to ensure best possible practice and player welfare considerations. It should be remembered that this trial in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup is not a fait accompli, but will be considered along with the current global trial of the crouch-touch-set engagement sequence."
"I would like to thank all the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup participating Unions for their support and enthusiasm in the lead-up to this trial. We are happy to continue to work with the expert groups to address any issues facing the scrum and this trial will hopefully give us more detailed information that will certainly help."
The trial will take place in the Australia and New Zealand legs of the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, which kicks off on March 1.
Players, coaches and referees will form part of an extensive feedback and analysis process that will see every scrum monitored and assessed.
The outcomes of the trial will be considered by the IRB Rugby Committee and the IRB Scrum Steering Group alongside the current global trial before recommendations regarding further evaluation and consideration will be made.
Comments
runmunkii says...
@backnforward couldn't agree more! That was wrong with the way we scrummed at senior school (and I'm only 36). It should all about the push and trying to win the ball. The hit should never have come into it in the first place in my opion.
Posted 14:21 01st March 2013
backnforward says...
lawynd, I know you said "for my amusement..."
But under new guidelines handed down by the IRB, those rules (and every other rule for that matter) are now open to interpretation!!! Ha-ha, only joking!
Being slightly more constructive and wanting to see the scrum more settled why not try something radical?
No more crouch, set, charge, touch, engage but instead: -
"Front 3s engage" - just the front rows
"Back 5s engage" - back 5s engage to front rows
"Steady" - absolutely NO pushing until the ball is in
"Scrum half - get the bloody ball in down the centre..."
Posted 09:24 27th February 2013
lawynd says...
Let's try this again...
@ferdie - hover over the photo associated with the article and see what the tooltip says.
Posted 11:56 25th February 2013
tokyojb says...
In answer to my own question, no, it's a different tournament, starting next weekend. Details here if anyone's interested:
http://www.irb.com/mm/document/newsmedia/regionalnews/02/06/54/74/irbprctournamentschedule2013.pdf
Posted 07:28 25th February 2013
tokyojb says...
This is defintely a step in the right direction, good on the IRB at last.
One question, is this being trialled in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup as I thought the new teams involved in that were Canada and the USA? Development teams from NZ and Aus used to be involved (Junior ABs and Emerging Wallabies, if memory serves) but they stopped participating several years ago...
Is the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup a new competition?
Posted 06:25 25th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Talking of annoying commentators. Has anyone noticed how negative Jon'n Davies gets when Wales are doing badly! Not just re Wales but re every team. He just wines and wines for 80 mins. Then Wales got the win in the end v France and his voice has dropped a few octaves. I'd almost want a Wales win to stop that! Almost. Prefer to perforate my ear drums as first option.
Posted 09:00 23rd February 2013
JamieTheProp says...
@ andyharris - I think you'll find that Brian Moore is against the way that modern scrummage and believes the hit has no place in the modern game - he is very vocal about this in his Telegraph column and when he commentates - when he played there was no hit!
This new system will only improve things if the scrum is refereed properly - once the teams have come together there should be no shove until the ball goes in (and the ball should be delivered into the channel and not to the second rows! It should also be delivered straight!
People don't realise how important the scrum is to the identity of the Union code - it is what makes the game unique and means that guys like me could play for 25 years without much in the way of speed or pace! It means there is a place on a Union field for all bodyshapes and types.
This is a step in the right direction - but there is still more to be done! Refs need to be trained properly (the scrum is still refereed better at lower levels) and all the set rules need to be adhered to!
Posted 07:19 23rd February 2013
andyharris says...
@gungehammer et al., Exactly! I'm tired of Brian Moore et al. warbling on about "the Hit" being one of Union's great spectacles when, IMO, it's actually one of the primary contributions to the game making a "spectacle of itself". It would also go a long way to stopping those incredibly irritating penalty awards for collapses/binding infringements, etc..
Posted 22:46 22nd February 2013
rugbylover says...
@rugby_rockstar
genetic I think.
Posted 22:37 22nd February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
Fozza,
Ah but, yeah but, no but um, I was missquoted and David Flatman hacked my post and twisted my words to suit his own mysterious ends. In fact the baggy sleaves are so baggy... they wrap about the body SIX TIMES TO PROVIDE EXTRA GRIP! ahha! I've pulled it off!
....Actually.... No goddammit.
I'm not going to try to muddy the issue to save face like Warren Gatland and Gerald Davies did a couple of weeks ago. Its time to face the music like a man and admit it. Fair call Fozza, you're right.... I ballsed up me post big time dude. ;)
And you know what the right thing to do is in these situations. THIS:
"You know sometimes, every now and then, it has been known for me to talk bollocks in public. What can I say? I picked up the disease while holidaying in New Zealand two years ago."
Posted 15:01 22nd February 2013
carpelone says...
bignoel
Well said, fed up of Kiwi scrum-halves feeding directly the second row.
This seems interesting.
Otherwise, give the defending front row the responsibility to keep it up. Then a free kick (first offence), a penalty kick (second offence) and yellow cards (subsequent offences). Australians will never win a game again.
Posted 14:25 22nd February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Not to mention the nipple grippling going on! Or shirt collar punches. Might as well replace it with "punch grip set... Fight". Predict many bust ups.
Posted 14:01 22nd February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Binding opponents on "touch" will cause a whole new set of problems. Pulling opponent out of line on pause for example. Pulling / shifting an opposing prop off balance as they pause/set could be very dangerous.
Posted 13:56 22nd February 2013
ferdie says...
lawynd - for my amusement, I'd like to know how you so expertly identified that scrum as being NZ Maori v Samoa??
They last played each other in 1997 and those jerseys are not the 1997 version for Samoa - the white piping/stripe is far more recent..
Posted 13:38 22nd February 2013
jmrugby says...
We should welcome any technical study and gathering of information in this part of our game, it is important to have the full picture of the mechanics, fundamental structures and forces created as individuals and units within this physical challenge.
Having delivered many scrummage coaching clinics using a hydraulic scrummage machine which will measure the force in pounds pressure and simulate conditions that are more closely to a live scrum in a controlled environment, I believe without addressing every aspect of the scrum, we will not bring the results we are all looking for. Focusing just on a outside bind when there are so many other problems of overextended for positions, under extended foot positions, Low and efficient Binds, poor attention to body profile and a lack of understanding in regards to where the greater percentage of pounds force is generated within this eight-man combine physical effort.
I would welcome any interaction (IRB, Bath Uni) with information gathering studies and research into producing a full picture of this information with a view to disseminating a accurate explanation, demonstration, correction and perfection of this unique part of our game
Regards
Jon Moore
Posted 10:12 22nd February 2013
lawynd says...
Just for my own amusement, I thought I'd try and list all of the infringements occurring in that picture.
- The Maori front row is driving across, not square.
- The Samoan tighthead is binding on the arm of his opposite number.
- The Samoan tighthead has turned in.
- The Samoan blindside has slipped his binding.
In that instance I'd imagine that one of those caused the other (either the Maori front row driving across caused the Samoan prop to turn in, or vice versa), so I do feel sympathy for referees attempting to keep an eye on scrums - even with the nearest assistant keeping an eye on the blindside, the referee has to keep track of all of that plus the offside line for the defensive scrum half and feeding (well, he should be). Not an easy task.
Posted 09:22 22nd February 2013
timothy says...
The way front rows have engaged for 100 years is like the sacred cow everyone is afraid to touch. Simply put, the 'Sevens Bind' is safer and more efficient.
Posted 00:34 22nd February 2013
Lucasrg says...
@lawynd
sublime sense of humour is always has to be prised, thank you for the laugh.
@ gungehammer
I agree with you.
Posted 20:14 21st February 2013
BackingLeinster says...
Now make the props jersey have somewhere decent to bind on. I suspect if the scrums start setting properly the ref will be able to watch for a crooked feed.
Posted 19:30 21st February 2013
paddy91317 says...
Or we could get a scrum ref were a retired frontrow forward makes the call not the ref if it goes down...
Posted 19:04 21st February 2013