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The Scrum. Hmm.

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    The Scrum. Hmm.

    What's the fucking point anymore, in modern Rugby Union?

    You either ruin a test match because neither side can keep the srcum upright, as per Scotland v England, and waste about 15 minutes of play faffing about it; or ruin a test match like France v England because it kept going down, and the ref kept giving penalties in favour of the team that was if anything cleverly committing the offences.

    There simply just doesn't seem to be any point any more in Rugby Union for scrums. Maybe, after 100 years, they'll finally realise the folly of it, just make it uncontentested scrums all the time, do away with the flankers, and open the midfield game up to running rugby. That sounds like some other game, which went too far the other way and is now even more boring because it doesn't have mauls and rucks but silly girly "tap-backs" all the time.

    #2
    The Scrum. Hmm.

    Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
    ...silly girly "tap-backs" all the time.
    "Play the ball", if you please.

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      #3
      The Scrum. Hmm.

      Apparently the role of the scrum is to knacker out the forwards so that people can run past them. I don't see why by having the ref on one side and a line judge on the other they can't work out which team is cheating more (obviously this being Rugby Union both teams will be cheating).

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        #4
        The Scrum. Hmm.

        ===============================================
        SCROLL DOWN FOR HILARIOUS JOKE
        ===============================================

        I don't understand why there's a comma in the first sentence of your post, Rogin !

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          #5
          The Scrum. Hmm.

          Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
          What's the fucking point anymore, in modern Rugby Union?

          You either ruin a test match because neither side can keep the srcum upright, as per Scotland v England, and waste about 15 minutes of play faffing about it; or ruin a test match like France v England because it kept going down, and the ref kept giving penalties in favour of the team that was if anything cleverly committing the offences.
          With you 100% on this.

          Somebody accidentally knocks on - scrum - somebody doesn't grab the right part of somebody else's shirt - penalty - and one team is now 3 points better off. Where's the rugby in that? Not to mention the time wasted.

          I used to sneer at the shoddy "scrums" in Rugby League, but at least they're over in a flash without any repeated reset nonsense.

          The scrum used to be a fascinating part of the game, testing out the skill and strength of each set of forwards, but now they've just become a time-wasting nuisance. I don't think the Crouch-Hold-Pause-Engage ritual has helped; if they (rightly) want to reduce injuries maybe they should think about the front rows binding together first before the rest of them join in.

          I can't remember the last time I saw a scrum move by more than 2 yards, let alone a pushover try. OK, a pushover try mightn't be as exciting as a flowing back move, but it's more enjoyable than endless penalty kicks.

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            #6
            The Scrum. Hmm.

            Part of the problem in the 6N series has been that Southern Hemisphere refs are holding the "pause" phase far longer than Northern Hemisphere front-rows are used to.

            A pre-bind would effectively de-power the scrum, it'd be a terrible idea if meant as a half-way house.

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              #7
              The Scrum. Hmm.

              Nurse Duckett wrote:

              I can't remember the last time I saw a scrum move by more than 2 yards.
              How far did Ireland shove our scrum in the defining moment of the game at Croke Park the other week?

              The overall point of the thread is correct though, it seems to this occasional rugby watcher that over a game one third of scrums result in one side being penalised, one third their opponent being penalised and the vast majority of the rest the team in possession just recycles the ball.

              I think Subbuteo seemed to predict the lottery that the set piece would become with this;

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                #8
                The Scrum. Hmm.

                Rugby Union just can't solve its laws problem, can it? There's always something.

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