The scrum has taken centre stage as arguably the most hotly debated topic in rugby, alongside high tackles, particularly after another World Cup where they played a massive part in the out come of knock-out games.
Following South Africa's one point win over England in the semi-finals, Matt Williams was hammered for his views on the scrum, as he harkened back to 80s and 90s when less penalties were given, and lamented South Africa's targeting of this specific area.
Matt Williams Went In Scrums During The World Cup
"What are you incentivising?" Williams said on Virgin Media.
By giving a penalty where you can take three points or kick for touch and start a maul, you are incentivising scrummaging to get the penalty. If you take that incentive away, well then what's the incentive?
You get the ball to the backs, you have 16 forwards tied up so there is all this space. All through the 90s and early 00s, we had wonderful back row moves and wonderful back line plays coming off scrums, it was entertaining and it was great.
South Africa and England are like great tax accountants, they find every loophole and exploit it brilliantly. I admire the intellect, but that is not good for the global game.
It is not good for the other sides in the game like France, New Zealand, and Ireland, who are trying to play a more positive, ball in hand, entertaining game. We are in the business of entertainment...
Is it a 15-man game or an 8-man game? Right now, it has become so biased towards scrummaging and mauling. The game is totally out of balance.
READ HERE: Matt Williams Is Getting Hammered Over His Bizarre Take On Issue That Is Ruining Rugby
With evidence after watching Dragons v Leinster in the #URC, @LenihanDonal feels rugby has a serious issue in relation to the scrum, adding that it's often now not an "attacking option" and that "it's too long to set up, too many resets # #rtesport #againstthehead pic.twitter.com/Im5ouHEIKS
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 13, 2023
During Leinster's win over the Dragons on the weekend, Donal Lenihan was highly critical of the scrum, with numerous resets and penalties throughout the game.
On Against The Head last night, he continued his tirade against modern scrummaging and echoed Williams' view that something has to change.
We can go back to the World Cup, there was a lot of comment on the scrum and its function during the World Cup, very much because of the number of penalties that were coming as a result of it. I mean the scrum is supposed to be an opportunity, 16 players in one part of the field, as an attacking weapon.
There was seven scrums in the match [Dragons vs Leinster]. None of them were complete, four penalties and three free kicks.
It is a serious issue, I think, for rugby to address at the moment. They're taking too long to set up in the first place, you have too many resets and there's almost the whole mechanical process in terms of setting the scrum, it takes way too long. I think it needs a major rehaul.
The original purpose is a means of restarting the game, to allow an opportunity for the backs to have more space. That's gone because the ball isn't getting out to them.
Lenihan did point out that scrums are one of the main differentiators between rugby league and rugby union, and did not call for them to be axed, or even go as far as Williams and call for a ban on scrum penalties.
It is hard to argue against the fact that how teams scrummage and the way scrums are refereed is taking away from the enjoyment of many fans, given the lack of clarity, the amount of questionable decision, and the amount of resets.
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