Six Nations 2013: John Beattie wonders where fair play has gone

By John BeattieBBC Scotland

Last updated on .From the section Rugby Unioncomments182

Scotland v Wales scrum

Professionalism is bringing more disappointing aspects to rugby every year.

Winning becomes ever more important.

Rugby players have become so cute at duping referees that all we seem to see are what we imagine to be refereeing errors.

That's cute, as in a cleverly-crafted Mafia sting rather than the association with any bunny rabbit.

If you watched Scotland's disappointing game against Wales on Saturday, like me, you will have been perplexed come scrum time.

I was just thinking - if I was going to cheat in scrums what might I get up to? Well, sometimes I would collapse a scrum even if my pack was going forward.

Surely proof, ref, that the weaker side had deliberately gone down to prevent further embarrassment?

And then, knowing that referees are so strict on penalising an early "set" it might be fun to not even go down on the "set" call so that it appears as though the other lot have jumped the gun.

It's called a "soft" hit.

I am guessing that both Wales and Scotland over the years have tried both of these tactics.

Referees blow the whistle for what they see.

I am convinced that the only way to stop all the nonsense is to have both packs engage gently with the front row first, followed by second row, followed by back row and the ball only put in at a steady scrum.

No "hit", no "set", no guessing games from the referee and, instead, a yellow card for the front row union once they ruin our game.

See how they like it when they are off the pitch. Two collapsed scrums - up or down - mean the game has been ruined in my book.

Scotland v Wales scrum
Few spectators at Murrayfield on Saturday would have enjoyed the series of collapsed scrums

Why anyone wants to sit through a series of scrum collapses and penalties is a mystery to me. That game on Saturday was terrible.

I think there was only one scrum in the whole game that ended in one of the teams winning the ball. The rest were penalties.

And Richard Hibbard admitting to soft hits in a Sunday paper was sad, or at least in part an admission that things have gone awry in rugby.

The other strange aspect to rugby, quite audible through the referee's microphone, is the attempt by players to influence the man in the middle nowadays.

"He's got his hands on it, ref," can be heard alongside "forward pass" and "not releasing" and a host of other friendly hints designed to win a penalty.

Captains wish a quiet moment or a word of advice too often.

Captains, or any player for that matter, should be given a word of advice that a quiet moment should be spent as far away from the referee as possible or it's a yellow card.

I'd penalise any player suggesting anything to the referees.

Brian Moore, rightly, spotted a player in a recent international diving as if auditioning for Tom Daley's "Splash!" programme.

Rugby was the game of fairness, where people didn't cheat (that much) but it's getting closer and closer to football. And I don't like those bits of it.

Apart from that it's still the world's best game.

My thoughts on yesterday?

We kicked away a lot of ball, came off second-best at the tough stuff, and the Welsh adherence to a pattern worked well for them.

They added a frisson to the occasion with their pick-and-go game that caught the Scots off-guard.

Jim Hamilton nicked a few lineouts but there were very few plus points for Scotland. And it wasn't just scrum-time that beat the Scots.

Bring on the French. What did you think?

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182 comments

  • Comment posted by U14330904, at 23:33 10 Mar 2013

    The game was absolutely miserable.

    Joubert got the last RWC final, so he's supposed to be the best in the world, isn't he? Oh dear. He totally ruined a game which millions had been looking forward to for a fortnight.

    We really need to get to the heart of the matter and put the enjoyment back in to rugby. Too much cheating. Too many silly little rules open to too many interpretations. What a mess

  • Comment posted by wayne, at 21:46 10 Mar 2013

    John, in todays Wales on Sunday Graham Price said that the IRB needs to do something about the shambles that is the scrum, why doesn't the IRB get 1 respected scrummaging prop from the top 10 ranked countries to examine and advise accordingly what needs to be done to sort out this debacle.

  • Comment posted by specto, at 01:47 11 Mar 2013

    If the ball went in straight at the put in then the scrum would be more of a contest. The fact that the defending team can't win the ball without the scrum collapsing leads to players feeling the need to cheat. Fix the put in and scrummaging will improve.

  • Comment posted by U14798970, at 21:53 10 Mar 2013

    I hope youre not Wayne Barnes 'Wayne'. I for one have been most critical of refs but condsidering this weekends issues, perhaps its not their fault. The game has become a boring crash bang kick fest and the players and coaches must take some responsibility. Honestly £65+ to watch rubbish like Saturday, all involved should be ashamed! How can we make it a proper 'fair' contest once more?

  • Comment posted by Donald J Williamson, at 18:40 10 Mar 2013

    We heard far too much of the ref's whistle yesterday and there was fault on both sides. I had the benefit of not only beiong there in the West Stand, but also listened in to the ref's advice to Ross Ford. Much as I am a big fan of Ross, the ref gave him at least two warnings and then a very friendly word of advice to just calm it down a bit in the scrum and take his time. Take note for France.

  • Comment posted by The1987Vet, at 13:51 11 Mar 2013

    After Scotland were the victims of some horrific front row play from Wales (in particular Tom James who at every scrum would knock away the Scotland props arm then bore in) Is it time we pushed one of the linesmen onto the field to keep an eye on the far side of the scrum? far too often the props on the side away from the ref bind on the arm or not at all which leads to the inevitable collapse.

  • Comment posted by jenko, at 11:21 11 Mar 2013

    IRB Needs to take action of the scrums for the sake of the game.
    Many coments on here relate to how the game is deteriorating.
    IRB Take action before its to late.

  • Comment posted by Gooney, at 11:08 11 Mar 2013

    I was very encouraged when Weir came on for Jackson against Ireland to adopt a running game ( and utilize our big, powerful, skilled backs ) instead of kicking the ball away, so was pleased that Weir was starting against Wales. I then just couldn't believe what I was seeing as I watched Weir proceed to kick away all the ball we had. This was not just insane...............but CRIMINALLY insane !

  • Comment posted by Gooney, at 10:57 11 Mar 2013

    The IRB must have some intelligent members ?. Can't they see scrums aren't working and haven't for some time. All you need to do is get the front row standing a few inches apart, lock heads as they bend down getting into position, the second row who are already kneeling then join in and then the flankers and no 8, and no one pushes till the ball is put in.... how difficult is that !

  • Comment posted by MWFCpirate, at 08:40 11 Mar 2013

    Correct me if I am wrong but were the scrummage engagement laws changed to stop people getting injured? The "crouch, touch.." was meant to give a tempo that allowed front rows to engage safely and minimise the chance of collapse and neck injury. International rugby should be the gold standard demonstration of this. I think scrums are getting worse. God forbid a serious neck injury... Then what?

  • Comment posted by U14344370, at 06:21 11 Mar 2013

    Yes the scrum was a disaster and yes the referee was abysmal, but Scotland did not help themselves. They were passive at the breakdown, took the ball too deep and kicked away any good possession they did have. They also seemed to play without any passion, which, in front of a sell out crowd at Murrayfield is both baffling and disappointing. One step forward and two steps back.....

  • Comment posted by U15259510, at 06:17 11 Mar 2013

    Cedders_B you really are having a rant aren't you!
    It would be nice to see scrums offciated properly though. The crooked feed would be the first place to start.
    Refs should also start marching teams back 10 meters a bit more often. That would get them to shut up pretty quickly!

  • Comment posted by Streetcowboy, at 06:06 11 Mar 2013

    I agree about setting the scrum stationary before the put-in, starting with the front rows and working back.
    Why did Scotland not contest the rucks in the first half?
    It seemed like every time Wales had the ball they scored, sooner or later. And if they didn't, we kicked the ball back to them.

  • Comment posted by U14737487, at 05:23 11 Mar 2013

    John, I agree completely with you. Only a fool would believe that an explosive engagement like we have at the moment could ever lead to a stable scrum. Much better that we revert to the old way, as you suggest.
    In my dark moments, I wonder if the IRB are trying to wreck the scrum so that they can get rid of it. Not helped by the very small number of referees who can manage the scrum properly.

  • Comment posted by U14737487, at 05:11 11 Mar 2013

    As a level 3/4 referee, I received extensive training in how to manage the new scrum engagement procedure. Both referees on Saturday were nowhere near that procedure, and neither did anything to rectify the mess they created. Today Clancy told both packs that he was going to follow the procedure agreed beforehand and we had a good contest, maybe because both packs were trying to win fairly.

  • Comment posted by U14344370, at 03:56 11 Mar 2013

    I re-read Brian Moore's article about scrummaging laws in the Telegraph after the match. He has it spot on. The second rows and back rows should only be allowed to bind once the front rows are fully engaged and any leg movement forwards before the ball is put in should result in an instant penalty. Wales admitted they "took the hit" in order for it to appear that the Scots were engaging early.

  • Comment posted by nedrag6, at 23:09 10 Mar 2013

    1st issue, nobody is taking accountability for performance of refs. How many times must Joubert get it wrong before he is removed?
    2nd issue, the game needs at least one more on-field ref specifically to police scrummage & breakdown - too many current refs cant call this area consistently well.
    3rd issue, technology is there - use it. Players like Mike Phillips can be seen & heard. Call it.

  • Comment posted by U14798970, at 22:44 10 Mar 2013

    @34, rugby union is just crashing into your opposition with the ball, occasionally running, tackling without it, mostly kicking it up in the air, oh and cheating at scrums, lineouts, offsides, rucks and mauls. Plus, as identified correcty by JB - moaning continually at the ref! At least league, which I hate, is legitimate! Incidently our own Laidlaw is one of the worst moaners!

  • Comment posted by U15601139, at 21:22 10 Mar 2013

    If the rules are adhered to then what is the fuss about winning the hit. In the rules it says that no team shall push until the ball is in the scrum.
    The ref yesterday didn't play to this rule as he was telling both scrum halves to put the ball in when the scrum was being pushed and wheeled about.

  • Comment posted by Ed, at 20:43 10 Mar 2013

    There were over 67000 supporters in the ground on Saturday however the atmosphere was flat, throttled by the refs interpretation of the rules. I didn't hear too many on the coach I travelled home in discussing the technicalities of the scrum, in fact they barely mentioned the game at all. Will I be back ? Dunno.

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