Quote: GUBRATS "For gods sake Mr Thaler make up your mind , either ref the game , or go and be a coach
Just watching the Wigan , Saints match , I'd suggest there needs to be clarification on how refs are going to judge when teams hold the ball in the scrum , some are calling the penalty , others are telling the players to get back , not really happy with the tactic myself , a bit too ' union ' for me'"
There just isn't any advantage from getting head and feed at the scrum these days, the scrum breaks so quickly and the defensive line advances so fast that the attacking team very rarely makes any ground. Holding the ball in the scrum is sometimes the only way you can win an advantage, but I agree with you, I don't like it, it feels unsportsmanlike. I'd rather get rid of the scrum or make them contested.
As for ref's coaching the players, I've said the same myself. If they're offside, penalise them. At one point Thaler was screaming so loudly for a player to stay back that he confused everyone on the pitch and brought play to a halt. It's not his job to help defenders stay onside, it's his job to penalise them if they don't.