Safety
Scrums are one of the most dangerous phases in rugby, since a collapse or improper engage can lead to a front row player damaging or even breaking his neck. For this reason, only trained players may play in the front row to help avoid injuries. If a team is without sufficient specialist front row players, for example because of injury or sin-binning, all scrums may be "uncontested scrums". In this situation, the packs engage, but do not push, and the team that still puts the ball into the scrum must win it without effort. Teams use a Scrum machine to train players.
Recently, a leading consultant surgeon in the UK has called for the ban of contested scrums, asserting they are too dangerous. There is very significant support for contested scrums however — former England hooker Brian Moore argued that "You would change the whole nature of the game and it would no longer be a game for all shapes and sizes as it is, uniquely, today."
Read more about this topic: Scrum (rugby Union)
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