Stop hassling the number nine come scrummage time

Good rugby

Check this out time mark. Fast forward to 1:21:00 - Genia harasses both 9 and 8. - Saders scrum under some pressure. - Wins the ball, and changes momentum - Good Rugby? Bad Rugby? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl1YNfFhpXk

I player can at the ruck and maul. Providing they come through the gate or are onside when the half back picks up the ball.

The defending number 9 cannot pass the line of the ball, not the last feet. Maybe this is the Aussie problem. The rules. Please, read 20.12.c): "When a team has won the ball in the scrum, the scrum half of the opposing team is offside if that scrum half steps in front of the ball with either foot while the ball is still in the scrum". Sanction: Penalty kick. Sections d/ and e) should be read by the forum too.

I remember the game Train. Gale was outfoxed by Phipps at the base, and disrupted the Reds attack off set piece several time. Gale should have been more aware, I thought Without Phipps, Tahs could have had a tougher time in the office. He didnt just disrupt Gale at the base, he also blocked his feeds after clearance. Gale and Schatz were just not up to mark then. In the end NSW won by 30 points.

Looks like someone agrees with you http://www.rugby365.com/article/64128-scrumhalf-innovation-to-rock-vc

A curious anomaly that players cannot interfere with the scrumhalf at ruck/maul time yet the scrum is open slather..

Could not agree more with this Mark. An absolute blight on attacking play and can't say what this adds to the game at all. I remember in 2014 in a Reds vs Waratahs encounter, the Reds were getting superiority at the scrum time, and Nick Phipps an absolute grub of a halfback - I mean that in his pursuit of pushing the laws, kicked the ball out of the Red's halfback's hands at the base of the scrum mid pass. In a game that heavily penalizes negative tactics like deliberate knock downs, I don't know how this one has slipped through for so long.

What, halfbacks? I tend to agree, but you only go halfway to solving the problem. No backs at all. Just fifteen forwards, who take turns to be in the scrums. New infringements - requiring a fresh scrum - include "passing the ball" and "failing to find touch with a kick".

Agree with the OP and that's part of why the 9 has to be a tough little B^&$ger. Played 9 often over the years and to be honest that was the part of the position I hated, the opposites, usually the 9, getting the odd hand or clip when trying to set up the pass. Sometimes your opposite might agree to a non verbal 'truce' and let the game flow more but some just want to spoil every single ball they can, get pinged for offside and yap, yap yap in your ear all game. Made the comparative sense of more freedom at 10 much more user friendly... :-)

Great to have new authors! Thanks, sir. For me, the little games within the game are the BEST! Conor M versus Mike Phillips; destroying clean ball I liked the Pienaar vs Youngs tussle recently in club game Pienaar showed why he's got 70 caps So I like the pressure being everywhere; all over. No lost causes. No easy ball retention. Essence of rugby

Mark Im unsure people missed the point. I believe many people are ok with watching things which others may consider 'boring' and 'meaningless' despite being surrounded with other sports like league soccer gallic football etc

ie our section of stand didnt like the ref's decision

I recall a match in Ballymore 94. Forget who we played, but there was a player who sealed off a Qld ruck. From the stands near the ruck, I suggested 'politely' in a appropriate tone and volume to clear the area. A Qld backrower promptly marched up. Played the sealer like a Gilbert. Ref didn't like it and penalised Qld. My section of the stands didn't appreciate it and 'politely' expressed our point of view and concerns But after that, ruck interference by the other team generally stopped :)

Same, more rucking, less ref. It is a contest for the ball after all I thought.

and for the record an over-reaction would be suggesting no one would be playing or watching. They currently are and on the world stage the game is growing. The only people who appear to complain on a regular basis about the contest for the ball seem to be Australian rugby fans, who then go on to suggest the rules should be changed accordingly. And it appears all the changes are to compensate for typical Australian weaknesses. While many like yourself suggest it is all about the fans, you could just as easily prefix that with Australian (i.e. Australian fans), because no-one else is making these proposals. I have seen scrum half's clear effectively consistently, while under huge amounts of pressure and a scrum going backwards. It is called skill. Instead many want to see a dumbing down of skills specific to rugby, because they don't understand it or don'y find it interesting. Tell me again how the game is failing it's international audience and why the rules of the game should be changed to satisfy Australian rugby fans. Just a thought and perhaps a modicom of reality.

Your perspective is to remove any contest for the ball. There is a game called league, that does that. Why not go there and get the rules changed to put a line out in there and you will have the game you so desire, no?

Wow. Too intellectual and clever for me.

No. I guess in this case it's so the halfback can clear the ball while standing over it, so they can remain balanced. In effect (though it's not actually written in the laws) they allow the same thing in rucks - halfbacks often place a foot in front of the hindmost foot when reaching in to clear the ball.

The 9 going around the scrum and disrupting his opponent is a very unattractive part of rugby. I'd be happy to see it banned.