WARRIORS’ scrum can still be a major weapon in the team’s armoury, according to Sixways loosehead Ceri Jones.

In the week that Worcester head coach Richard Hill blasted the current laws governing the scrum as ‘nonsense’, former Wales international Jones has also spoken of his frustration.

Matches these days are all too often littered with reset scrums and a constant stream of early engagement free-kicks as front rows and referees struggle to find a common view on best practice at the set-piece.

Jones admitted: “It’s frustrating for us and for the referees — it is a difficult area to manage and we had one or two frustrating scrums in our Amlin Challenge Cup game at Perpignan.

“We took one of their balls against the head right on their line and had it at our number eight’s feet — something you don’t often do against Perpignan — and the referee blew up for a penalty against us, which was a mystery to most of the people in the stadium — even the French.

“It’s just one of those things, you have to try and manage it the best you can and carry on believing in what you’re doing.

“Everyone here who is in the Worcester eight has bought into what we are doing when we are scrummaging and I think we can really move it forward.”

Jones added: “It is really difficult but I still think the scrum can be used as a huge weapon, along with the driving maul, as they can assert dominance on the opposition.

“It’s a huge part of our game and we’re working really hard on our scrum and maul with Phil Vickery. Overall physicality around the field is something we like to pride ourselves on.”