A shot clock to speed up scrums and increase ball-in-play time was among a number of ideas proposed at a Super Rugby conference in New Zealand.
Proposals to open up trans-Tasman player movement and to scrap yellow cards for knockdowns were supported last week, but the prospect of a 60–second scrum clock was quickly knocked back..
“We have to be careful, don’t we? It is a niche area of the game and we have guys doing a specialist skill,” Wallabies star Andrew Kellaway said.
“Outside backs and everybody else, we are asking these blokes to compress their spine for a living and someone in a suit has the nerve to ask them to hurry up.
“If I was Al, which I am not, fortunately, I would be pretty filthy about that. I think there are so many other areas we can pick up in a game, the breakdown to name one, before we start going picking on the scrum.”
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“The game’s out of control” – Nigel Owens wants five law changes ASAP
Popular referee Nigel Owens says rugby’s new Laws are NOT working to improve the game.
England coach Eddie Jones basted the current laws following his sides win, saying: “The game’s out of control,
“You saw the New Zealand Ireland Test; at one stage, commentators couldn’t count how many players were on the field, you had three backs packing a scrum.
“We’ve gone the full hog where everything’s a red card, yellow card and there needs to be some common sense.
“I picked up the referee’s pocket (before the game), he had plenty of cards in it.”
Owens, who hung up his whistle two years ago, has come up with four possible changes to encourage expansive rugby.
#1. Scrap the goal-line dropout
Owens wrote: “As for goal-line dropouts, I was a big fan initially because I felt it would prevent attacking teams from numerous pick-and-gos near the try line, with teams instead attempting to move the ball wide to avoid being held up and losing possession. But I’m not sure it has worked as planned. We still see plenty of pick-and-gos until teams get over, we still see plenty of mauls and the number of collisions hasn’t decreased.
“We are also seeing fewer scrums near the goal line, and to be honest I’m not sure that is a good thing. The scrum needs to be an important part of the game, and right now we are not seeing the benefits of it. Rugby must continue to be a game for all shapes and sizes, and at all levels, too.
Attacking teams are also kicking longer knowing that if the ball rolls dead, the defending team has to do a goal-line dropout and they can get the ball back. We’ve also lost the short dropouts we used to see from the 22-metre line where teams would compete to win the ball back, or a quick dropout would be taken, because teams now backed up on their goal line just kick the ball long to escape and what happens? The opposition kick it back.
“From initially believing it would work, I would now like the goal-line dropout law to go to be honest. If anything it is having a negative effect.”