I have as a coach been faced with the scenario of 16 players available only and losing 2 backs to injury. So chose to move one flanker out to centre, what happens at scrum time then?
- if a back is YC any forward can safely drop back reducing the scrum to seven
Perhaps this provides a clue to how to deal with this. Adult law tells us:
20.1(e) Number of players: eight. A scrum must have eight players from each team. ...
Exception: When a team is reduced to fewer than fifteen for any reason, then the number of players of each team in the scrum may be similarly reduced. Where a permitted reduction is made by one team, there is no requirement for the other team to make a similar reduction. However, a team must not have fewer than five players in the scrum.
The U.19 variations are just that: situations in which the adult law is disapplied and a revised set of provisions takes over. Do the U.19 variations vary 20.1(e)?
Answer: Technically No. The first variation of Law 20 is 20.1(f). Admittedly, it is rather hard to see why the adult law
20.1(f) Front rows coming together. First, the referee marks with a foot the place where the scrum is to be formed. Before the two front rows come together they must be standing not more than an arm’s length apart. The ball is in the scrum half’s hands, ready to be thrown in. The front rows must crouch so that when they meet, each player’s head and shoulders are no lower than the hips. The front rows must interlock so that no player’s head is next to the head of a team-mate.
Sanction: Free Kick
should be replaced by
20.1 (f)
In an 8 person scrum the formation must be 3-4-1, with the single player (normally the Number 8) shoving on the 2 locks. The locks must pack with their heads on either side of the hooker.
Exception: A team must have fewer than eight players in its scrum when the team cannot field eight suitably trained players in its scrum due to either the team not fielding a complete team, or a forward player being sent off or temporarily suspended for foul play, or a forward player leaving the field because of injury.
Even allowing for this exception, each team must always have at least five players in a scrum.
If a team is incomplete and it cannot field eight suitably trained players in its scrum, the scrum formation must be as follows:
If a team is without one forward player, then both teams must use a 3-4 formation (i.e. no No.8).
If a team is without two forward players, then both teams must use a 3-2-1 formation (i.e. no flankers).
If a team is without three forward players, then both teams must use a 3-2 formation (i.e. only front rows and locks).
When a normal scrum takes place, the players in the three front row positions and the two lock positions must have been suitably trained for these positions.
The adult law says that a team is entitled to reduce its scrum numbers to maintain parity in the backs. Technically, that law is not varied at U.19. Even if (as seems likely) the iRB has incompetently left 20.1(e) unvaried and really intended to replace it with the variation numbered 20.1(f), the bits in red suggest that the adult provision nevertheless applies. It is perfectly permissible to elect to reduce your scrum numbers to maintain a full set of backs - though the requirement of equal numbers means there can never be parity.
All the U.19 variation does is to stipulate when the scrum MUST be reduced below 8, and how - it does not address whether it MAY be reduced. The iRB clarification confirms that the word "team" in the variations means "forwards" - so it is a MUST when the team does not start off with a compete set of forwards. The option of MAY reduce, which exists in all rugby, remains unvaried - so either team MAY reduce the numbers of forwards down to 5, in order to fill holes in the backs.
If they elect to use a back to fill a forward position, that is also their choice, provided that anyone who plays in the front five is STE for the position they are playing. And they can pick and choose which to do.
