Bruwheresmycar
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
The scrum law has always been this way. All that's changing is that useless need to say pause. Which will help refs a lot. Simple sollutions are sometimes the most effective.
In practice, Dam0, you may be right in that the highlighted sentence may make "not a jot of difference", but I feel that the principle expressed in the sentence is potentially dangerous. Safe scrummaging requires that the engagement be a coordinated action of both packs. If they are not in synch a scrum collapse or mismatched alignment of heads is much more likely, which could have disastrous consequences for any of the six players involved.
Further, I can see weaker packs exploiting this ruling by delaying, leaving the dominant side liable to be penalised for charging. I cannot see how referees will be able to prevent this practice as they do now by penalising packs for failing to take the hit. The non-engaging front row can legitimately claim, "we weren't ready".
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The onus would be on that front row to say to the referee to warn that they weren't ready just prior to that 'set' call. . .the referee wouldn't call 'set' if it is obvious to him that a front row wasn't ready.he'd whistle it up to reset the scrum then.
Otherwise that 'unready' front row would have a free kick awarded against them!
That would be my action on that situation should I be on the field as a referee.
What then, Nusadan, is the meaning or purpose of the sentence that Dam0 and I were discussing? The sentence makes it very clear that a front row progressing into a state of readiness can occur post the "set call".
Where in the Laws can I find the clause which puts an "onus" on a "front row to say to the referee to warn that they weren't ready"? I can't find it.
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