Set piece Samoa deserved better

 
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There was a midweek edict from the high offices of the IRB referees panel to crack down on collapsing and resetting scrums. Fair enough, but it did seem a little funky blurting that one out on the brink of a weekend of rich fixtures between northern and southern hemisphere teams.

I mean, the northerners, despite the fact they annually get the the ruck beaten out of them by the southern heathens (with a few notable exceptions) have, regardless of the sway of conspicuous evidence, clung to the concept that ‘real’ scrummaging remains a northern art.

This has been reinforced by South Africa’s endless maligning of Australian scrum tactics — even post-Bill Young. Al Baxter was the ultimate and undeserving victim of that posturing.

Regardless, rugby does have an enormous problem with scrums. At their best, they are team wrestling matches of unmatched intensity. But for the most part they are, well, about 20 minutes out of a game of rugby.

No one wants them killed off, no one wants them to become a ‘gathering at a bus stop’ like league — but if the contest is going to be the important set piece part of the game, it should be more consistently adjudicated.

So I was intrigued to see if the ref’s panel instruction would be enacted in the first game I got to see of the weekend — Samoa v Wales.

Wales probably would have fancied their scrum against the Samoans, despite the 50lb advantage to the Pacific islanders.

But sadly scrum contests, most contests in fact, were overshadowed by the Irish ref’s panicked whistle-blowing through much of the contest.

Whatever the verdict, Samoa played for 20 minutes with 14 men, yet they remained well in the game for its entirety and in fact looked like finishing with a winning streak in the last ten minutes.

In a terrific last five minutes, the Samoans were pressing. A crucial five metre attacking scrum offered a chance for glory.

No need for play by play here, but the Welsh scrum imploded numerous times under that pressure, with the disadvantaged side of the front row collapsing inward twice. There was no penalty/free kick or penalty try.

If Samoa had been England, or if Wales had been Al Baxter, that would have turned out a lot different. And in our wannabe scrummaging hearts, we all know that to be true.

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