Referee's and Scrum Penalties

[Dizzy]

Seriously, something needs to be done about this and I would have thought numerous coaches would've caused an uproar at this point.
We all know the scrum is a real "????" area when it comes to penalties.

Penalising the front row for twisting the scrum backwards is ludicrous for any prop. They thrive on driving their opposition back so whenever the attacking team get's shunted back on one side they get penalised for pulling back? Seriously referees need to sharpen up and actually learn the ins and outs of propping.

These guys are being penalised for standing up when it's obvious the amount of pressure from both men is causing a stir. I just honestly doubt most of these penalties and feel they are ruining the game.

At the very least they should be short arm free kicks yet they are getting full arm penalties for infringements where I feel referee's are guessing most of the time.

It frustrates me and I really feel for the big guys. You can read the frustration off their faces after a scrum call and it needs to be fixed.

Thoughts?

 

[petehooker]

Absolutely agree. the scrum isn't the problem, the stupid refereeing of it is. Referees are blowing up for ambiguous vague offences and missing the easiest and biggest of the lot. Feeding.

A great case in point was in yesterday's England-Georgia Game. Georgia put the ball in and it came out the other side behind the tight head's feet.

There are only two interpretations within the laws

1. Either the scrum half fed the ball, free kick England or
2. The ball has been diverted legtimately, play on.

It cannot have gone "straight through" which is what that pedantically wrong idiot Kaplan actually whistled for.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

lack of consistency between refs is what frustrates me the most. this affects rucks as well as scrums. Also, throw in not straight seems to cop it as well. sometimes you see the hooker throw directly to the lock and get away with it, then you see a throw in to the back that tails away slightly at the end and they call it not straight. I just want the refs to all be on the same page.