Springboks coaches reveal fascinating trend as Felix Jones debunks claims of ‘more scrums’ after World Rugby’s tweak
Springboks scrum-half Grant Williams box kicks with an inset of assistant coach Felix Jones.
Springboks coaches have moved to dispel claims that there are more kicks and scrums in the game since World Rugby outlawed the escorts.
Previously, sides were able to create a vacuum for a catcher by using teammates to block the opposition’s chasing players, with the blockers dubbed as ‘escorts’.
World Rugby have since instructed officials to penalise this tactic with a re-application of the offside laws.
That directive to allow access to the chasing team through the directive has polarised coaches, with Mike Prendergast speaking out against the change, as did Ireland star Tadhg Beirne and Gloucester’s Ross Byrne.
The tweak has been hotly debated recently, with Eddie Jones stating that South Africa are ’50 percent better than any other team’ in the world under the high ball since the directive was implemented and suggested another law change to even that out.
Myth buster Jones
Meanwhile, the Springboks coaches believe that it is a hugely positive alteration to the lawbook as it creates a fair contest for the ball and assistant coach Felix Jones has moved to rubbish the claim that it has led to more kicks and scrums.
Jones used data collected from the top domestic competitions in the world, comparing stats from the season before it was implemented and the season to date, where it has been in place.
He adds that Tier One rugby pretty much mirrors what is occurring at the club level, with most of the changes in team and player behaviour being so minuscule that it’s not significant.
“I’ve run this with the various statistic companies, Opta, Oval, and so on,” Jones said on the Rassie+ podcast.
“If you look at this screen here, this is the data from all of the major competitions combined, Top 14, Premiership, Super Rugby, URC, and the blue one is the 2023/24 season, which was before that law application came in, for the aerial contest, and obviously, this is this season to date.
Kicking stats from the top-flight domestic leagues in rugby (via Felix Jones on the Rassie+ podcast).
“There is a bit of commentary at the moment that there are just way too many kicks in the game, it’s not true.”
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus interrupted, adding “Well, let’s not say it, it’s not commentary, there’s a clear drive to say there are too many kicks in the game and they want to make the kicks not as contestable, and they want to get those kicks out of the game, which is not true [that there are more kicks].”
Jones continued: “We established it’s more exciting now, the contest is restored, and now it’s clear there is the same amount of kicks.
“And if I show you the details of the kicks in the URC, I mean, it’s 0.2 more kicks – that is not significant. In the Premiership, there’s actually less kicking; there’s significantly less kicking in the Premiership, in the Top 14, it’s pretty much the exact same and in Super Rugby, there’s a slight increase. If anything, Super Rugby is the one competition that’s probably just jumped a little bit, but all the other competitions are either the same or less, and that is also consistent with the Test rugby at the moment.”
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More kicks doesn’t lead to more scrums
Former Test referee Jaco Peyper, who now serves as SA Rugby’s national law advisor and head of referees, further explained that there is no evidence to support the notion that more kicks is resulting in more scrums.
“They reckon that the kicking game is causing more scrums. We are saying that the competition that decreased their kicks, their scrums increased. So, actually, the kicking is not increasing the number of scrums,” he said.
“Everywhere I read and listen, people are told that they are more scrums in rugby, but it’s not true.”
Jones illustrated that with another graphic illustrating the number of scrums in the top-flight leagues.
Scrum stats from the top-flight domestic leagues in rugby (via Felix Jones on the Rassie+ podcast).
“So this is the same thing again. So it’s the same competitions, all the major domestic competitions, it’s the exact same. If I show you the details of where the scrums are in the URC, you might say there’s a 0.2 increase – it’s not significant,” he said, with Peyper clarifying, “Every five games, one more scrum.”
The former Ireland back added: “In the Premiership, you might say there’s one more scrum [a game], and that’s actually the competition with the least amount of kicking.
“In the Top 14, there are currently fewer scrums and in Super Rugby, there are currently fewer scrums, and this is also consistent with Tier One rugby.
“There’s no significant change in Tier One Test rugby currently from any of the stats that I’ve looked at. I’m happy to be corrected.”
Further benefits
In the previous episode of the podcast, the coaches stated that the game is in a much better state since the removal of the escorts, as there is far less kicking tennis taking place.
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Teams are kicking more contestable high bombs instead of driving punts, as there is more of an opportunity to compete and regather possession of the ball.
Reclaiming the ball then creates the opportunity to launch another attack, with the same being true when neither player is able to claim the ball in the air, providing the chance to attack from scraps and crumbs.
Additionally, the Bok coaches believe that it has made the game safer as now there are just two players competing for possession, with Mzwandile Stick stating that ‘third-party’ players were usually the cause of injuries.
