Ordinary Fans Scrum Survey

[bcm666]

This link is to a simple survey put together, without any input from me, by a follower of mine on Twitter. He is a Welsh fan who amongst nearly 8,000 others believes the scrum is a priority problem for rugby.

I don't want to get involved with arguments about methodology or the content of the questions, especially as I didn't set them - therefore, I don't want to make points about the answers to Q2 about whose fault this is, but I do ask you to look at the 1,000s of comments left.

This is the first time, as far as I know, that any evidence has been sought from ordinary fans on this issue and 8,000 replies in 30 hours is extraordinary.

www.brianpitbullmoore.com tab Scrum Survey

 

[Browner]

Irrespective of the demographics of the sample, the phrasing or the timings etc .... the results are indeed interesting

Thanks for sharing

 

[damo]

I don't know of anyone, from player to referee to sports journalist to administrator who doesn't think the scrum is an issue. So Q's 1 and 4 are a bit like confirming that the Pope is a Catholic.

Q2 is more interesting. I'm a bit surprised that referees get such a high proportion of the blame. There are simply too many things to watch for in an elite scrum and it is too hard for even the best referee to get it right on a consistent basis.

Q5 is another interesting result. I understand the IRB is getting a move on with some changes. They have had a scrum research project for a couple of years and there is the new engage sequence trial in the Pacific Nations Cup that looks promising. If we can get a more passive engagement, and a steady scrum before the ball goes in I tend to think the rest will take care of itself. From my limited reading of the results of the scrum research this looks to be the way they are headed.

 

[menace]

Not a lot of surprises there really (is the pope really catholic...I thought he was South American?). Well at least the surveyor didn't pay an over-priced consultant to tell us what we already knew. That's what the IRB would do.

Wouldn't you love to grab a few of those fans, put a whistle in their hand, put them in front of a scrum and say 'lets see how you go to figure this out'. I thought refereeing a scrum was easy from the sideline too having never put my head in one...I changed my tune once I started refereeing adults!

 

[KML1]

I'm almost wary of commenting as last time I tried to have an honest conversation with you about it and expressed a valid opinion about the survey, you misconstrued my view and made it a focus of your Telegraph column.

These are really interesting results but I don't see how it furthers the discussion. It doesn't really tell us much we didn't know already, although of course provides a helpful 'what the fans want' view to pass into Brett G and chums in Dublin. As the Daily Mail approach to policy formation usually works in the UK, let's hope it does have the desired effect and we get some action at the top which will reflect how we ref at community level and then we can stop the 'blame the ref' culture which is sadly permeating through our game.

I assume you have someone from the IRB on your 5Live feature on this? Is it on Thursday evening? What time is it on?

 

[Taff]

I don't know of anyone, from player to referee to sports journalist to administrator who doesn't think the scrum is an issue. So Q's 1 and 4 are a bit like confirming that the Pope is a Catholic.

When asked "Do you think elite scrums are a priority problem for the game & need reform?" 379 voted "No" and amazingly 7 people voted both Yes and No. It crashed on me before I could have a look at some more info, but in fairness it is a huge sample. :clap:

 

[damo]

When asked "Do you think elite scrums are a priority problem for the game & need reform?" 379 voted "No" and amazingly 7 people voted both Yes and No. It crashed on me before I could have a look at some more info, but in fairness it is a huge sample. :clap:

The reason I said that is because I am wary of a columnist like Brian Moore trying to create a controversy when really there isn't one. I think everyone in rugby will admit that the scrums are a shambles, but I think it only fair to point out that the IRB really is looking for solutions. It takes time and political capital to make fundamental changes to something like the scrum, given that rugby is a worldwide sport.

I am cautiously optimistic that the "crouch, bind, set" call currently being trialled will solve a lot of the angst at scrum time, and may give us more opportunity to police the put in, which will further reduce the effect of the initial hit.

 

[crossref]

I am cautiously optimistic that the "crouch, bind, set" call currently being trialled will solve a lot of the angst at scrum time, and may give us more opportunity to police the put in, which will further reduce the effect of the initial hit.

i am less optimistic - the world is trialling C-T-S and C-B-S is very limited trial.

 

[KML1]

Indeed CrossRef, but CTS started as a similarly limited trial at Stellenbosch.

If we are to get reform, we need to see the game working through these things, and, of course the players and coaches need to want to do it. In all the blather about the scrums issue, there is one group of stakeholders who are strangely silent - players. What say them?

 

[FlipFlop]

If the IRB really is trying to solve it, then why not look to prioritise the stable/stationary before the ball is fed? Why not promote the laws used at lower levels in France to a full trial? Why only change ready steady go, to ready steady wait go, to ready steady .... go?

If the IRB really are looking at this sensibly, then they clearly have no idea what the issue is, or how to solve it. They are tinkering around the edges, and hoping it goes away.

We pretty much all agree on here with the issue, and what needs to happen to resolve it (i.e. enforce the square and stable and the feed). Why can't they see this or even trial this?

And at the levels I have reffed (up to level 6 in UK), by enforcing the stable and square, and the feed, I had very few collapses/resets, and had balls against the head.

It isn't rocket science.....

 

[Browner]

We pretty much all agree on here with the issue, and what needs to happen to resolve it (i.e. enforce the square and stable and the feed). Why can't they see this or even trial this?

And at the levels I have reffed (up to level 6 in UK), by enforcing the stable and square, and the feed, I had very few collapses/resets, and had balls against the head.

It isn't rocket science.....

only x1 collapse this season, average of x2 'against head strikes' per match, at my community ruggar level. It's great fun.