Quote: Lawrie L "In the pub after the game one of my mates claimed he saw Warrington have an 8 man line at a scrum towards the end of the first half
Anyone else notice this?'"
Yes I did. The scrum was fed, the ball came out and then Thaler noticed it. He took the wrong course of action in resetting the scrum. It should have been a penalty to Leeds for Warrington having more than 7 backs.
The only time you are allowed less than 6 players in a scrum is when a player is in the sin-bin/sent off/injured and you have only 12 men on the pitch as a result. Teams seem inclined to pack down with 6 men though which puzzles me. Surely you'd want to cover the addition back which the opposing team would have. Even if you have only 10 men on the pitch, you are allowed 7 backs and a scrum can still be made with just a front row. Very unlikely situation, I know.
Any fewer than 10 men on the pitch and you have to deplete your backs in order to create a front row.