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JJ Harmse
Do yourself a favour when watching the various disguises of rugby played this weekend.
From Friday morning onwards in Vodacom Super Rugby, the Vodacom Cup and the Six Nations, have a look at the way No 8's react at scrum time.
In all of these competitions you will find both No 8’s reacting in exactly the same way when the inevitable whistle goes at scrum time.
The opposing No 8's will look up with hands out, ready to catch the ball their scrumhalf will throw at them and eager to take a quick tap, using the advantage the penalty or free-kick could bring.
Why would both No 8’s expect the same result? Surely, after a couple of scrums, they'd know whether their scrum has the upper hand or not? But no, even the "losing" scrum’s No 8 is ready to tap and go.
Believe me, there is no coaching manual that teaches eighthmen play to be like that. The reality is, it has become part and parcel of that position for one simple reason.
Every scrum has become a gamble. It is almost as if both No 8’s know for fact that a penalty or free-kick will follow any given scrum. They just don’t know which way it is going to go.
I took time out to chat with the Highlanders captain, Jamie Mackintosh, on his feelings about the stricter application of the laws, just after their historic win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
I did point out to him that I feel looseheads are feeling the full wrath of the new application.
Mackintosh conceded five penalties in the match and although pumped at captaining his side to a historic win, he was pretty unhappy about being penalised, indicating that he feels referees are getting it totally wrong.
In a report on Wednesday, Blues and All Blacks prop, Tony Woodcock, who will be playing in his 100th Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes on Saturday, also blasted the new ‘wave of justice’ at scrum time.
Woodcock claims the referees don't understand this important part of the game and said they are guessing and should not act on something when they don't know what the cause is.
Speaking to Gurthrö Steenkamp, SA's premier loosehead as well this week, he confirmed that his side of the scrum has suffered more than those on the tighthead side.
He blamed the lack of grip on the bind for this, indicating that the loosehead area to bind is in fact less than that of the tighthead.
Those are technical issues for most of us, but the fact remains that scrums have become a gamble.
As far as I know, it is not suppose to be like that.
I had a quick peek at www.ruggastats.co.za to see the stats with regards to penalties against props after four rounds of the tournament. Please take in consideration that the stats don't indicate why a player conceded a penalty, but it is a fair assumption, the way scrums have been refereed, that the majority of those penalties would be at scrum time.
Here goes:
The Highlanders' Mackintosh has conceded seven penalties in four matches. Tightheads Chris King (0) and Bronson Murray (2) have conceded far less.
Woodcock at the Blues conceded five of their eight front row penalties, as has JC van Rensburg at the Lions.
Coenie Oosthuizen is by far the worst ‘culprit', conceding 12 penalties out of the 18 in total conceded by the Cheetahs.
At the Bulls (Steenkamp), Stormers (CJ van der Linde) and Sharks (Beast Mtawarira), once again the looseheads have conceded the majority of the penalties.
It is clear that, whether intentional or not, the loosehead has become the victim of the latest laws.
I am sure many tightheads would do a little fist pump about this, as for many years, they have been under scrutiny and their opponents were allowed to ‘walk around’ the scrum or place their left hand on the ground to get an angle.
The only concern for me and you should not be to have a go at the referees, who apply the laws, but to have a look at the result of these applications.
Are we getting the best result at scrum time?
I believe we are not. I cannot wait for the day when the No 8’s head remains in the scrum and his only concern is how to control the ball under his feet.
Yeah right, I will dream on...
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
Do yourself a favour when watching the various disguises of rugby played this weekend.
From Friday morning onwards in Vodacom Super Rugby, the Vodacom Cup and the Six Nations, have a look at the way No 8's react at scrum time.
In all of these competitions you will find both No 8’s reacting in exactly the same way when the inevitable whistle goes at scrum time.
The opposing No 8's will look up with hands out, ready to catch the ball their scrumhalf will throw at them and eager to take a quick tap, using the advantage the penalty or free-kick could bring.
Why would both No 8’s expect the same result? Surely, after a couple of scrums, they'd know whether their scrum has the upper hand or not? But no, even the "losing" scrum’s No 8 is ready to tap and go.
Believe me, there is no coaching manual that teaches eighthmen play to be like that. The reality is, it has become part and parcel of that position for one simple reason.
Every scrum has become a gamble. It is almost as if both No 8’s know for fact that a penalty or free-kick will follow any given scrum. They just don’t know which way it is going to go.
I took time out to chat with the Highlanders captain, Jamie Mackintosh, on his feelings about the stricter application of the laws, just after their historic win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
I did point out to him that I feel looseheads are feeling the full wrath of the new application.
Mackintosh conceded five penalties in the match and although pumped at captaining his side to a historic win, he was pretty unhappy about being penalised, indicating that he feels referees are getting it totally wrong.
In a report on Wednesday, Blues and All Blacks prop, Tony Woodcock, who will be playing in his 100th Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes on Saturday, also blasted the new ‘wave of justice’ at scrum time.
Woodcock claims the referees don't understand this important part of the game and said they are guessing and should not act on something when they don't know what the cause is.
Speaking to Gurthrö Steenkamp, SA's premier loosehead as well this week, he confirmed that his side of the scrum has suffered more than those on the tighthead side.
He blamed the lack of grip on the bind for this, indicating that the loosehead area to bind is in fact less than that of the tighthead.
Those are technical issues for most of us, but the fact remains that scrums have become a gamble.
As far as I know, it is not suppose to be like that.
I had a quick peek at www.ruggastats.co.za to see the stats with regards to penalties against props after four rounds of the tournament. Please take in consideration that the stats don't indicate why a player conceded a penalty, but it is a fair assumption, the way scrums have been refereed, that the majority of those penalties would be at scrum time.
Here goes:
The Highlanders' Mackintosh has conceded seven penalties in four matches. Tightheads Chris King (0) and Bronson Murray (2) have conceded far less.
Woodcock at the Blues conceded five of their eight front row penalties, as has JC van Rensburg at the Lions.
Coenie Oosthuizen is by far the worst ‘culprit', conceding 12 penalties out of the 18 in total conceded by the Cheetahs.
At the Bulls (Steenkamp), Stormers (CJ van der Linde) and Sharks (Beast Mtawarira), once again the looseheads have conceded the majority of the penalties.
It is clear that, whether intentional or not, the loosehead has become the victim of the latest laws.
I am sure many tightheads would do a little fist pump about this, as for many years, they have been under scrutiny and their opponents were allowed to ‘walk around’ the scrum or place their left hand on the ground to get an angle.
The only concern for me and you should not be to have a go at the referees, who apply the laws, but to have a look at the result of these applications.
Are we getting the best result at scrum time?
I believe we are not. I cannot wait for the day when the No 8’s head remains in the scrum and his only concern is how to control the ball under his feet.
Yeah right, I will dream on...
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
