Worcester Warriors boss Richard Hill slams ‘nonsense’ of modern scrummaging

1:00pm Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Tom Guest, @tomguestWN #WENsport

TIME FOR A CHANGE: Warriors head coach Richard Hill has called for an alteration in the way scrums are set up in the modern game. TIME FOR A CHANGE: Warriors head coach Richard Hill has called for an alteration in the way scrums are set up in the modern game.

WARRIORS chief Richard Hill has launched a damning indictment of the ‘lottery’ that scrummaging has become in the modern game.

The Worcester head coach feels the introduction of the ‘crouch, touch, pause, engage’ system — which he describes as ‘nonsense’— has ruined the art of scrummaging.

Hill also believes rugby chiefs would be well advised to look back into the past when referees were encouraged to keep the game flowing wherever possible rather than the constant trail of reset scrum that is fast-becoming the scourge of today’s game.

Hill said: “It is very frustrating — I really don’t know what is going on.

“How many times can a team get a three-quarters move from a scrum? We hardly ever work on moves from a scrum because you just don’t get them.

“Every scrum is a free-kick, a penalty or a complete mess — it’s so hard and I have no idea why. I think it started when the health and safety hit us with this ‘crouch, touch, pause, engage’ nonsense. Every time a scrum goes down, the referee has to reset. In the old days, if it went down, it went down and you just used to play on.

“It drives me up the wall when free-kick after free-kick is given. If a scrum is dominant and one team is clearly shunting the other back, then if they concede a penalty, I don’t think you can argue.

“When the scrum just goes down without either side going forward, then how can anybody tell why it has gone down? The only people who know are the front rows — referees, the touch-judges and coaches don’t know — it is just those six blokes who will know who’s done what.

“So, in my view, don’t blow for a free-kick, just let the game flow and it would be a much better game if we just did that. The whole idea of a scrum is to keep 16 forwards in a huddle so there is a bit more space to play.

“When free-kicks are awarded, you have 30 blokes on their feet and back into the defensive line, which defeats the whole object.

“It has got to be sorted out — I think referees are just blowing for free-kicks all the time. They look at one thing on one side of the scrum — one team might be committing an offence there, but often the other side are committing an offence on the other side and don’t get spotted.”

The Sixways boss has called for the sport’s powers-that-be to look at altering the laws relating to scrummaging in a bid to restore what used to be a key component of the game to its former glory.

Hill added: “There has to be a change to the laws because, I’m not being funny, it is a lottery at the moment.

“Any coach, player, forward or forwards coach will say to you that you might as well toss a coin to decide what happens at a scrum.

“One week you will do one thing in the scrum and not get penalised, but the next week you will do exactly the same and get penalised.

“Every scrum in a game is literally a lottery — you always think ‘there will be a free-kick here’ but you have no idea who it is going to go to. That cannot be right — you have to play a little bit more advantage and let the game flow.”

Comments(7)

bigrat says...
1:55pm Wed 2 Jan 13

Well said Hilly, although never mind the coaches and players .... it also drives the paying public up the wall! I have no idea what goes on in the front row, but the (small) number of scrums which are successfully completed in a match is getting ridiculous and the time wasted to set and re-set scrums 3 or 4 times just adds to the frustration.

Not sure what the answer is, maybe we just go the Rugby League way and have uncontested scrums? At least the scrum will be over with quickly, the ball back into open play within seconds rather than minutes and the front rows health and safety protected.

A flippant suggestion, but something has to be done so that the spectacle of the game is improved and the paying public see more ball in open play.

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Respectable says...
3:09pm Wed 2 Jan 13

Completely agree with Hilly.

I play front row at an amatuer level and have done for more years than I care to remember.

A couple things I would like to add here are.
1. The crouch pause engage law just meant there was a much bigger hit on the engage.
2. Skin tight or lycra type shirts play a massive part in this as you cannot bind properly. The laws say you must bind. As you try to grab your opposite numbers shirt in wet and muddy conditions you just slip off. Changing the 1, 2 & 3 shirts back to loose cotton would have a big effect.

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deano220 says...
1:20pm Thu 3 Jan 13

I agree with Hilly, but also agree that the new clothing has had a massive impact. Anyone who has been in the front row of a scrum will tell you it is NOT a polite nice place to be (thats why the ugly ones are up front). The referees have not a clue of whats going on and the blind side could easily be covered by a touch, but as we ALL know touch refs are blind dumb and dumber, and woe betide them if they were to actually make a call that didn't include the ball going over a line.
I do not agree with uncontested scrum's nor the "oh well its gone down lets play on" thats just a broken neck waiting to happen, these guys are a LOT more powerful than those that played in Hilly's time and lets face it how can you get a set move out of a chaotic dropped scrum.
So to the $64,000 question, how do we improve, i dont know a definitive answer but perhaps a 2 man Ref and relevant touch officialdom and perhaps instead of the clash (there is no set) the engage should be a soft one with the engage call being made when the ref and touch are comfy that there is a bind, the shoulders and hips are level and both teams are properly "set" for what is the real contest the shove. This may rule out no binding, early engage, shoulders too low or even the head on head farce.
Oh and i am one of the ugly old fellas that lost my looks in the scrum ....... just in-case you were interested.

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zx12r says...
2:23pm Thu 3 Jan 13

For once I must agree with Mr Hill, but if he wants to go back to the old days, then lets go back to when the ball was played in straight & not feeding the second row.

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Respectable says...
3:32pm Thu 3 Jan 13

Great post deano220... Spot On.

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Brummagem Bertie says...
7:13pm Thu 3 Jan 13

Kingsley Jones had what I thought was a good idea on Scrum V some time ago.

The two biggest parts of the problem are the hit and the number of things that a ref has to look at. Jones suggested forming up the scrum by rows.

First the front rows engage. Once the ref is satisfied that everyone has bound properly the second rows come in, then the back rows. There is no hit and neither side is allowed to shove until the ball is put in. The ref should be able to look at the feed a lot more closely.

The scrum then becomes a proper contest again, whilst still being safe. Has got to be worth a trial, at least.

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Hillbilly1 says...
12:06am Fri 4 Jan 13

I agree with so much of whats been said on here already. The modern day scrum can take up 25% of a game, with constant resets, and far too many ending in penalties, with those penalties being something of a lottery. The scrum is used now in an almost cynical way to get a penalty, particularly towards the end of a game. Get in a position for a scrum in the opponents half, and after it has gone down a couple of times, there is a reasonable chance for a kickable three pointer!
I know there is dispute over whether it would be an idea to go to uncontested scrums like rugby league, but as a way of restarting a game, with a number of players bound in, its not a bad idea. and anyway, most scrums now are uncontested anyway. With scrum halfs feeding the second row, the opposing hooker no longer even bothers to hook. And yes, the modern clothing makes it nigh on impossible to bind in the front row. As a former prop, there was plenty of jersey to grab hold of, and a two way firm hold made angling in much harder. These days, the bind is loose at best, if it slips, a hand touches the ground, the body curls up, and the ref calls "hingeing" without really having any idea what it means or what casued it. In any case, the unavoidable slip of the bind leads to a very kickable three pointer!
Kingsley Jones' ideas are worth a try, although it might take some time to set the scrum this way. I'd get rid of the early hook too, if the scrum is to be properly contested.
My own preference would be uncontested scrums, which could make things interesting, if for instance you scrummed down with some backs in the scrum and a couple of big boys in the line as they do in League. It could lead to more tries, rather than a penalty lottery. The dark arts of scrummaging have pretty well been lost from the game, they won't come back.

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