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Question
Referees seem to be much stricter on having the
ball thrown in straight at the scrum.
Why the change?
Answer
The change is partly the outcome of an observation
that the International Rugby Board (IRB) made
during the 1999 World Cup.
The IRB had become concerned that a
lowering of the standards of the throw-in at
scrums had lead almost to the elimination of
hooking as one of the important and unique aspects
of the game.
The stricter standard applied this year is
part of an attempt by the IRB to reintroduce a
fair contest for the ball at scrums, thereby
saving the hooker’s traditional role from
extinction.
Law
20.6 lays out in detail how the ball should be
thrown into the scrum.
In essence the ball should be thrown in
straight along the middle line between the two
front rows. To
find out how well this was being done a study was
made of videos of all the scrums that occurred
during the World Cup quarter-finals, semi finals
and final. During
those matches there was a total 134 scrums.
For the analysis all scrums at which the
video angle made it impossible to determine
whether or not the ball was thrown in correctly
were eliminated.
That left 59 scrums that could be analyzed.
Of these, the ball was thrown in clearly
not straight on 39 occasions, not straight on
another 17 occasions, and 3 free kicks were
awarded. At
none, repeat none, of the scrums was the ball
thrown in such a way that it conformed to the Law.
Although
the degree of non-conformance was perhaps a bit of
a surprise, extensive “feeding” wasn’t
exactly earth shattering news.
Players, referees, coaches, evaluators and
spectators all acknowledge that the standard for
the throw-in has become
increasingly relaxed, or even ignored, over
the years until nowadays the ball is often thrown
in closer to the team’s locks than it is to the
opposing hooker.
To be fair this relaxation of standards was
condoned with the best of intentions.
The idea was to have the ball back in play
as quickly as possible.
But as time passed the IRB has recognized
that something important was lost along the way,
and that the upside was no longer sufficient to
compensate for the downside.
Thus
there comes a renewed emphasis on a straight
throw-in and a fair contest for the ball.
A fair contest doesn’t necessarily mean
an even contest.
The team throwing in still has the
advantages of being able to time the throw-in and
of having the “head”.
But that’s all it should have.
From now on, to quote from Law 20.6:
- The
scrum-half must stand one meter from the
scrum, on the middle line.
- The
scrum-half must hold the ball with both hands,
over the middle line
between the front rows,
midway between the knee and ankle.
- The
scrum-half must throw in the ball at a quick
speed.
- The
scrum-half must throw in the ball straight
along the middle line, so that it first
touches the ground immediately beyond the
width of the nearer prop’s shoulders.
- The
scrum-half must throw in the ball with a
single forward movement.
This means that there must be no
backward movement with the ball.
The scrum-half must not pretend to
throw the ball.
The
throw-in should be such that the contest for the
ball is fair.
That means no spinning of the ball so that
it bounces to the right as it hits the ground.
How straight is straight? The scrum half
should throw the ball in straight to the best of
his ability.
If he consistently favors his own side, he
is in violation of the Law.
Applying
a new standard, or more correctly reapplying the
proper one, is going to seem strange for a while.
But if we all approach the problem sensibly
it shouldn’t take too long to adjust.
I am sure there will be some who enjoy the
recent past, and who will try to retain the extra
advantage of an unfair throw-in.
For them it may take a little longer, and
they will suffer some frustration.
But in the end they too will come around,
and the game will be better for retaining the art
of hooking as something special in rugby.
We may even see a few taken against the
head. Wouldn’t
that be a treat.
November
26, 2000
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