Richard Loe: Coaches hit out at new scrum laws

The All Blacks practice the scrum at Latymers Upper School in London, England. Photo / Getty Images

I was at the Canterbury A&P show this week and chatting with all manner of rugby coaches - old club coaches, scrum coaches, backs coaches and they were unanimous: the new rules are making the scrums messy; they have to go.

You could see the All Blacks struggling with them against France last week and you can't just blame the lousy footing in the Stade de France. The French props were standing on the same turf - and they scrummaged pretty well.

Owen Franks had problems, I thought, and it seems to me that he has not enjoyed the change from the hit to this new folding-in style. His best work used to come on the hit; it was all about the engagement for him. Now I notice he has one foot up and one back and he often has to move one foot and sometimes both of them when the pressure goes on. He is still working through the changes.

Wyatt Crockett has a different problem. He is so tall when he folds in that his shoulders often end up lower than his hips - which is illegal and the referee last week against France was very diligent about that and penalised him.

I have asked a few front rowers about the new scrum rules and the consensus seems to be that it is more about brute strength now and less about technique. Props will always need good technique but removing the hit has meant that the bigger and stronger props are gaining an advantage.

I am not saying smaller, technical props will be ruled out of the game - the French props were only average size and did all right - but it is making life harder for that type of prop. I am also heartily sick of the constant re-sets - and I am an old front rower.

I am not surprised Steve Hansen complained to the IRB and, while I can see what the IRB are trying to do, I think they are going about it the wrong way. To me, there are three main problems: the ref should ref the game, not be a coach; they need to get the ball into the scrum faster; and they should stop looking for penalties when the scrum goes down in certain circumstances. They have fiddled with the scrum rules so much now that it has gotten silly - the ref calls the scrum together; he tells the halfback when to put the ball in - which is ludicrous - and he also directs players when to clear the ball from a ruck. It is overdoing it.

Okay, keep the new scrum calls but don't have the ref telling the halfback when to put it in. Halfbacks have to have a bit of discretion. My old club had a small pack so we used to tell the halfback to chat to the first-five until we were ready. When we were set, we used to get him to put the ball in quickly, allowing the bigger sides less time to bully us. If you put the ball in smartly, there is often more leeway about how straight the put-in is.

That's what is needed now - take a little bit of time to get the scrum right and that will save time overall. Let the halfbacks judge when to put the ball in and bring back the old rule that said the ball had to go into the scrum when it was lowered past the halfback's knees. Let the referees penalise halfbacks for mucking round and not putting the ball in when it doesn't suit their team; a few penalties will sort things out. That's preferable to the refs trying to judge when the time is right. Some know as much about scrummaging as I do about nuclear physics.

Finally, what about fewer scrum penalties? If there is a fair contest for the ball and it's under the second row's feet and the scrum goes down, so be it. Don't penalise that. Penalise those who collapse a scrum when a pushover is on; things like that. Don't stop for a scrum that goes down when possession has been clearly claimed. That would speed up the game and achieve the balance between safety and the battle for possession.