McKenzie Voices Concerns Over Lack of Scrum Contest in Rugby Championship
Former Wallabies head coach Ewan McKenzie is concerned about the lack of scrum contests during the Rugby Championship.
McKenzie,a former front-row international,was annoyed by referees urging scrum-halves to ‘play on’ when the scrums had collapsed during the matches between the Springboks and Wallabies and Los Pumas and the All Blacks.
Over the opening two weekends of the Championship, six penalties have been awarded at scrum time, with South Africa and New Zealand claiming three apiece, while Australia and Argentina both had none.
No scrum contest
Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast alongside fellow former Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones, McKenzie aired his dismay at the growing trend of officials, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, ignoring infringements at the set-piece and their reluctance to reset the scrum.
“There was a scrum where Argentina went backwards, and then they collapsed it, and the referee just said, ‘Play the ball,’ so the All Blacks drove on their own put-in, drove Argentina backwards, so they’re looking for a penalty, obviously, that’s the norm, that’s how the European referees have officiated it. But no, they drive Argentina backwards; it collapses, it should have been a penalty, and you get nothing,” McKenzie began.
“There’s no reward for having a dominant scrum; you may as well start putting back rowers in the front row like they did in the schoolboy football 20 years ago. That’s what we are getting to because there’s no contest.
“In the other Test matches, it was the same thing; the scrum contest is just gone. There’s nothing in it. There was one penalty, that was it. Or else, everyone just gets the ball irrespective of what goes on up front.”
Japan head coach Jones agreed with the former prop and pointed to a game involving his team where he believed that they weren’t rewarded for their scrum dominance,too.
he added that it is a growing trend in the game that has been pushed by World Rugby, who evaluate officials on the number of scrum resets that occur in a match that they oversee.
“We have been talking about the scrum for a while now, and there seems to be pressure in the game – and these things creep in, it starts as a small thing, and then it becomes a trend to referee like that and that then becomes the norm,” he explained.”What we’re seeing becoming the norm at the moment,and again,it’s crept into the game,is taking the contest out of the scrum. I alluded to it way back when we [Japan] played Wales in the second Test that the referee was trying to take the contest out of the game as Japan is not supposed to have a stronger scrum.
“So they didn’t wont to have that situation where they had to adjudicate in a arduous game for that referee at that time. So you’re seeing that more and more, and they definitely get marked on the number of resets they have, so they don’t want to have resets. They just get the play going again and get the ball away quickly.
“It’s the same with this intentional knock on. That was never part of the game, untill someone said, ‘Oh, we got a referee against that,’ and now it’s become the norm that a player sticks out their hand to try to take an intercept, and they get sin-binned.
Concerns Grow Over Future of the Scrum in Rugby Union
Recent commentary from experienced rugby figures raises concerns about the future of the scrum in rugby union, with fears it might very well be significantly altered or even diminished due to inconsistent refereeing and a shift in emphasis towards penalizing dominant scrummaging techniques.
Former rugby referee Greg McKenzie believes a divergence in refereeing styles between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is creating a problematic situation. He suggests that Northern Hemisphere referees are more likely to penalize even slight infringements,such as a foot moving forward,even when a team is exerting legitimate dominance. “It is rugby league-esque, and everyone will lose interest. They will just pick different body shapes up front,” McKenzie stated. He specifically pointed to the Springboks’ historically strong scrummaging as potentially being disadvantaged under this approach, as referees may penalize their attempts to “milk a penalty” through sustained pressure. McKenzie believes teams will be penalized for being dominant, a meaningful departure from rewarding the dominant scrum, wich has been a key tactic for teams like South Africa for years.
Eddie Jones,a veteran coach,echoed these concerns,emphasizing that the issue isn’t with the referees themselves,but with the “management of the referees and the management of the game.” He highlighted a recent example in the national Rugby League (NRL) where a problematic trend of excessive sin-bins for head contact was quickly addressed by league officials. Jones believes World Rugby needs to take a similar proactive approach to ensure the scrum remains a viable part of the game.
“It’s the same now if there’s a problem in the game, people got to say, ‘This is the problem’, and it can only be done by World Rugby, they’re the only ones who can control this they say, ‘Right how do we fix it, what’s best for the game?'” Jones explained. He warned that if current trends continue, the scrum could be lost from the game, similar to how rucking has diminished in prominence. “If this continues,we will lose scrum. But don’t say we can’t lose the scrum because it’ll just be a different game.”
The discussion comes amidst ongoing debate about World Rugby regulations, as evidenced by recent decisions regarding player eligibility, such as the case of Will Skelton and the Rugby Championship. See: Will Skelton’s Rugby Championship fate decided as Wallabies won’t enforce World Rugby regulations.Sources:
https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/eddie-jones-scrum-world-rugby-rassie-erasmus
https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/will-skelton-rugby-championship-fate-decided-wallabies-wont-enforce-world-rugby-regulations