Scrum (rugby Union) - History

History

Like many aspects of rugby union, the scrum has evolved since the sport's invention. Many of the rules regarding the scrum have been changed. These changes have not always had the desired long-term effect, as many have been changed quite frequently.

Originally there was no distinction between an awarded or scrum and a loose scrum (today known as a ruck). The side awarded the scrum had one player put the ball on the ground and let go of it; there was no requirement of a tunnel. The onside line was dictated by the ball; so players were required to remain behind it. A scrum would most commonly be awarded when a stalemate occurred between the player with the ball, who would declare "held", and opposition holding him, who would call "Have it down". The early rules did not draw a clear distinction between players in or out of a scrum, and did not require players in the scrum to bind. The early rules of rugby, even after re-codification as "Laws of the Rugby Union", said the object of players in the scrum was to kick the ball towards their opponents' goal line. This provision remained in the laws for approximately 20 years after practice had changed in the late 19th century.

For a long time players did not have specific positions within a scrum. They adopted the "first up, first down" down method, with the first players to a scrum packing down in the front row and the rest of the forwards filling the remaining positions. Although the 1905 All Blacks are often credited with introducing specialised scrum positions, the 1888-1889 New Zealand Native football team had in fact practised this. As well, Thomas Ellison, one of the Natives, invented the 2-3-2 scrum formation. This seven man scrum was very popular in New Zealand until being outlawed in 1932. The extra man available because he was not in the scrum was called a wing forward and his job was to feed the ball into the scrum. Wing forwards were frequently accused of obstructing the opposing scrum-half, and this contributed to the International Rugby Board (IRB) outlawing a two man front row.

Up until the second half of the 20th Century there were many configurations of scrum; including 3-2-3, 3-4-1 and 3-3-2. However by 1949 South Africa had perfected the 3-4-1 scrum formation. The hooker bound very loosely, and could swing his body so that he could get his feet to the ball as soon as it was fed into the scrum. The two locks would not push on the hooker, but their props, to make this easier. This made it very difficult for the opposition to get anywhere near the ball before it was hooked to the back of the scrum. It was at this time the terms loosehead and tighthead entered rugby terminology. Ever since the team feeding the ball has had a significant advantage, and won their own ball much more frequently.

In the 1960s rule changes were introduced to try and limit the effect the loose forwards were having on back play. There was no obligation to bind to a scrum for flankers at this time. The offside line was dictated by the position of the ball even when it was in the scrum, and so when it emerged at the back of the scrum the scrum-half would often find the opposition flankers and scrum-half arriving with it. The new offside line became the hindmost foot of the scrum. Only the opposition scrum-half could move forward of that point, and all flankers had to stay bound unless they remained behind the hindmost foot of the scrum. Another rule change introduced allowed the number 8 or the rear-most bound forward to detach from a scrum with the ball, previously it could only be retrieved by the scrum-half.

In 2007 the scrum law was amended to the current four step, "crouch", "touch", "pause", "engage" process. Prior to this there was no obligation for each prop to touch the opposing props shoulder and the distance between the two front rows was often larger. The new rule fixed the distance between the front rows and as a result cut the force of impact from the engagement. The reason for the rule change was to reduce the number of serious neck injuries to front rowers.

The IRB made further changes to the laws in 2009 in an attempt to eliminate uncontested scrums. Beginning in the 2007–08 season, the IRB sanctioned a trial of the following new rules in France:

• Matchday squads would be increased from the standard 22 to 23, with two props and one hooker required among the substitutes.
• If a team lost all of their available front-row substitutes, uncontested scrums would take place, but with that team having to play with 14 players instead of 15, eliminating any possible advantage of uncontested scrums.

In the last season before the trial (2006–07), 145 matches in the country's three top divisions (Top 14, Pro D2, and Fédérale 1) ended with uncontested scrums. In 2007–08, only two matches out of 994 in the same divisions finished with uncontested scrums.

In July 2009, the IRB authorised all of its member unions to adopt these changes in competitions that they completely control, and also allowed these changes in transnational club and provincial competitions (such as the Magners League and Super 14) with the permission of all unions involved.

Starting with the 2012/2013 rugby season the International Rugby Board has issued trial law amendments, one of which affects the call sequence. The referee will continue to start with "crouch" and "touch," but will now issue the command "set," which replaces "engage" as the indication that the packs may push forward. "Pause" has been removed in order to speed up the scrum and to minimize resets due to collapsed scrums.