time thats wasted during scrums

88show

NZ commentator Grant Nisbet said
maybe they (the IRU) should have a look at stopping the clock until the ball comes out of the scrum. The amount of time wasted setting and re setting adds up to about 5-10 mins,
I think it's a great idea and think it can also apply to line perhaps, not so much though
Good game so far for NZ v OZ
live feed kostaz rugby joint/sentanta

fifth

Just look at last nights Leinster V Ospreys game, coupled with the issue of aerial ping pong, nothing like it to waste valuable game time.

toomevara

Someone definitely needs to take a look at this. I'd like to know, precisely for what percentage of time, in a game of modern RU, the ball is actually in play...I think between feckwhackery at the scrums, (reset after tedious reset now the norm) lineout shenanigans and time spent in the stratosphere collecting snowflakes, the amount of time where we've got the ball in meaningful play is becoming less and less.

Some folk who love their RL, (not me, I hasten to add), often refer to union as 'Kick and clap', having watched the tri-nations this year and last nights Magners League offering you'd have to say, they may have a point....

OldJay

toomevara wrote: »

Some folk who love their RL, (not me, I hasten to add), often refer to union as 'Kick and clap', having watched the tri-nations this year and last nights Magners League offering you'd have to say, they may have a point....

Its down to the individual ref. Just blow a free kick against the side mucking around if the engagement looks impossible. Penalty if an infringement in the bind or afterwards.

Stangely enough, Nisbet didn't worry about this predicament when the scores were tight. Weird . . .

ScrubsfanChris

88show wrote: »

NZ commentator Grant Nisbet said
maybe they (the IRU) should have a look at stopping the clock until the ball comes out of the scrum.

The IRU?
I think you mean IRB mate, good point all the same.

phog

But isnt the scrum part of the game???? I know there can be a lot of time wasted but so too with lineouts, penalty kicks and free kicks, take for example a penalty, time to decide what to do, go for a lineout, then the team saunter down to the lineout, more time wasting at forming the lineout and still the clock is running.

OldJay

phog wrote: »

But isnt the scrum part of the game???? I know there can be a lot of time wasted but so too with lineouts, penalty kicks and free kicks, take for example a penalty, time to decide what to do, go for a lineout, then the team saunter down to the lineout, more time wasting at forming the lineout and still the clock is running.

Since you mention it, delayed throwing of the ball into the lineout and the attacking side taking yonks to take their place in the lineout should all be penalised harsher, in my humble opinion. I would also like to see a tougher stance on crooked feeds into the scrums. Cowan was pushing his luck this morning and got penalised once.

thebossanova

If the watch was to stop everytime the ball went dead, or there was a stoppage to set a scrum etc..., games would be 3 hours long or more! It's rugby, not America Football! I'm pretty sure the statistics are something around 45-50 minutes out of 80 that the ball is actually in play, which is lots if you are actually playing the game! I'm sure some couch jockey's want 80 minutes of straight rugby, with no reset scrums etc, but the breaks are part of the game weather we like it or not, and are necessary i think.

Tim Robbins

I think this is something where it really depends on the quality of referee-ing.
If you watch someone like Nigel Owens, you don't get a game full of reset scrums.

However, the Magners League is full of refs who would be a grade or two or five below Owens. They are unsure as to what's going on and hence they keep resetting.

I think Leinster should have had a penalty try on Friday and I am surprised one wasn't given. It seemed very odd going for sin bin instead.

If you even look at the 1st Lions test you could make arguments 'The Beast' was getting away with all sorts of tricks that weren't picked up.

Tim Robbins

Justind wrote: »

Since you mention it, delayed throwing of the ball into the lineout and the attacking side taking yonks to take their place in the lineout should all be penalised harsher, in my humble opinion. I would also like to see a tougher stance on crooked feeds into the scrums. Cowan was pushing his luck this morning and got penalised once.

That's something refs should really manange. Tell teams to speed it up.
Too many FKs / Penalities makes for cr*p game also.

PhatPiggins

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I think this is something where it really depends on the quality of referee-ing.
If you watch someone like Nigel Owens, you don't get a game full of reset scrums.

However, the Magners League is full of refs who would be a grade or two or five below Owens. They are unsure as to what's going on and hence they keep resetting.

I think Leinster should have had a penalty try on Friday and I am surprised one wasn't given. It seemed very odd going for sin bin instead.

If you even look at the 1st Lions test you could make arguments 'The Beast' was getting away with all sorts of tricks that weren't picked up.

+ 1 he got away with murder mainly due to Bryce Lawrence lack of even a basic understanding of how scrums work. People were hailing Mtawarira as a scrummaging titan but as soon as he was reffed properly he was quickly found out.

tHE vAGGABOND

yea, lets stop the clock every couple of minutes and turn the game into american football with games taking 4 hours of real time

Downtime

Tim Robbins wrote: »

That's something refs should really manange. Tell teams to speed it up.
Too many FKs / Penalities makes for cr*p game also.

yes but FK and PK are essential in changing player behavior.

Tim Robbins

Downtime wrote: »

yes but FK and PK are essential in changing player behavior.

It's really a balancing act. I don't FK / PK if the scrums are:
- safe
- staying up
- not preventing a fair contest

This is using the usual "materiality" philosophy.

But if I see something unlawful and let's face it, theere generally always is I point it out in downtime which is usually effective.

Trojan

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

yea, lets stop the clock every couple of minutes and turn the game into american football with games taking 4 hours of real time

Welcome back

dingbat

Scrums and lineouts take far, far longer than they used to. For evidence of this, take a few minutes to watch classic rugby matches on TG4: referee awards scrum, the two packs go straight into it, no messing about. Same with lineouts.

irishbucsfan

dingbat wrote: »

Scrums and lineouts take far, far longer than they used to. For evidence of this, take a few minutes to watch classic rugby matches on TG4: referee awards scrum, the two packs go straight into it, no messing about. Same with lineouts.

That's because teams take them far more seriously and are far more technically proficient in the set pieces these days. In order for that to work you need to be thorough in your preparation and methodical in your execution. The Irish scrum from the 80s would likely be destroyed by an AIL scrum today.