KEY POINTS:
Science has proven scrums haven't been as scary since a new law was introduced last year.
A near 40 per cent drop in moderate to severe neck and back injuries was recorded in New Zealand during the 2007 season - 20 compared with 33 the year before.
The
new four-step "crouch, touch, pause, engage" rule, introduced on January 1 last year, controls the forces at scrum engagement and reduces scrum collapses by standardising the distance between the teams.
Research by Auckland University of Technology sports injury doctoral candidate Simon Gianotti looked at ACC cases of moderate to severe neck and back injuries caused by scrummaging since 2002.
The 20 injuries recorded last year were the lowest of all years studied.
The results were a surprise to Mr Gianotti. A former front row forward himself, his motivation to do the research was to prove the new laws were ineffective, he said.
"Being a front rower, I don't like anyone telling me how to scrum. And I didn't think it would have any effect. So yeah, I was genuinely surprised."
But the results came as no surprise to former All Black prop Mark "Bull" Allen.
In 1998, playing for the Hurricanes against the Brumbies in Canberra, he packed down for a scrum that went disastrously wrong.
The scrum collapsed, he suffered a pro-lapsed disc, and his rugby career was over.
Mr Allen said the new laws gave props more time to get their position right before impact.
"What used to happen was, the tight head used to call and it was just all good luck and whoever could get in there the quickest.
"Guys wouldn't be down, they'd be going down when they got the hit. So there was a lot of room for error."
Mr Gianotti said the new law didn't take any of the raw intensity from scrums; it simply ensured each front rower was ready for impact.
Despite the improvements, he cautioned people not to expect scrum injuries to disappear.
"There's a level of risk every time you step on to a rugby field ... If you go running into a brick wall, you're going to get injured."
Mr Allen said despite some risk remaining, the improvements were good news for rugby's grass roots.
Parents could now feel happier letting their children play the sport.
Whether the law would have prolonged his career was not known, Mr Allen said. "But obviously the stats are proving the game is safer now, so possibly, yeah. I could have lasted longer."
Mr Gianotti said research into the new law was continuing, with the 2008 season's data expected to mirror last year's figures.