got to admit I kind of miss the contested scrum.the scrum we have now is a joke

I'd rather we took a line out than have the scrum we have now. It's a waste of time.

The scrum can be contested. Teams just choose not to.

And when they do how often does the ref let them get away with it?.

If you want contested scrums you have to get them set properly and the feed would need to be straight. If you do that you get what you see in RU which is quite often three goes to set the scrum then a penalty because the ref loses patience. Now that [iis[/i a waste of time.

If you took a line out instead then teams would kick to touch virtually every time on the last tackle because they would have a chance at getting the ball back which completely defeats the object of the turnover in possession which you get with a scrum. It would change the nature of the game completely.

This is true and something I think people forget when thinking about adding line outs or contested scrums for example. We lost them for a reason and IMO that reason is still valid today. Probably more so as we can see how some RU clubs struggle to attract crowds and also because as pro athletes things like contested scrums are downright dangerous given the power of professional players



There is conflict in RU circles over the way the game is played given the way the rules allow it to be played. Watch the Super 15 and there is almost tacit agreement to play the game in an expansive way. Come the internationals and this goes out of the window. The clubs and the game will IMO change somewhat (changes like lifting in the lineout to make it legal to reduce penalties) but it will be a long time before it naturally evolves to a better game but I think you underestimate the desire of the clubs for change.

If they could sort the scrum out it would be worthwhile IMO ..as they stand now you might as well give a tap penalty.

Then we'd be playing union anyway

. Contested scrums as in RU take a long time to set in the first place to try and make them safe and there are lots of infringements and not just technical ones but ones where the ref blows up because of safety issues.

Scrums get collapsed and often they will get wheeled around. If one side is superior at scrummaging then you see much more of this along with things like one of the forwards pop up because he doesn't like the pasting he is getting in the scrum which also can result in a penalty and so on. The whole thing can take several minutes and just reduces the time the ball is in play considerably. The setting, re-setting and high penalty count is all a consequence of the power and fitness of the players today and trying to balance that with safety.

I think the only thing you could do in RL is feed the ball in down the middle and allow the hookers to strike for it but have the forwards not push and so just hold the scrum steady. I am not sure its worth the bother since we seem to have evolved our game to actually want the team with the feed to get possession.

Contested scrums are ridiculous, if the other team drops the ball why should they be given a chance to win it back? I would scrap scrums all together and have tap restarts, it would speed the game up aswell.

I feel that silly contested scrums and lineouts are in our past because thats where they belong. RL's strength from the start was that it looked forward not backwards. I suspect that IL can see the writing on the wall for RL, and that Union is struggling too. Any kind of melding of the two is years away, arguements about how it should be played, and even bringing the seasons together would be a nightmare. Then you have the Aussie question, but if we tie up in some way with the RFU, then Aussie RL would have to stand alone, and it probably can, does it need a World Cup? Maybe IL thinks that a "Wigan" brand should dominate "Rugby" in this country, with an aim of bringing the two together. Oh to be a fly on the wall at some of the meetings that may, or not be taking place...