IF YOU TUNE into the World Rugby U20 Championships this summer, you’ll see scrum-halves getting more protection at the base of rucks, mauls, and scrums.
Grabbing at the scrum-half as they pick the ball up from rucks has been a growing trend at the top level of the game in recent years.
Irish players like Caelan Doris and Stuart McCloskey are among those who have mastered the art of reaching out from a ruck to grab the scrum-half’s arm just as they look to pass, often forcing an error.
Below, we see an example of McCloskey grabbing TJ Perenara’s arm during an Ireland midweek game against the Māori All Blacks.
It’s deemed a legal act from McCloskey given that he is part of the ruck, is on his feet, and plays Perenara’s arm. McCloskey is not offside because he is part of the ruck.
If McCloskey had played the ball rather than the arm, it would have been a penalty against Ireland. The timing is important too – McCloskey can only grab Perenara’s arm once the scrum-half lifts the ball.
This action by defenders has become more common over the last few seasons. It looks a bit weird and continues to cause confusion and frustration, including in the Champions Cup final last weekend.
Toulouse prop Dorian Aldegheri snagged Leinster Jamison Gibson-Park in the first half to force a knock-on.
Aldegheri is counter-rucking as Gibson-Park lifts the ball and he reaches out to grab the scrum-half’s right arm, forcing the knock-on.
The question here is whether Aldegheri is really on his feet.
Aldegheri is already falling to ground as he reaches for Gibson-Park’s arm. If Aldegheri is deemed to be off his feet when he plays Gibson-Park, it would be a penalty to Leinster.
But referee Matthew Carley is happy as he makes a decision in the split-second he has to do so, without the benefit of multiple replays.
“Ball lifted, he’s able to tackle him,” says Carley as Leinster’s Tadhg Furlong appeals.
When plays stops soon after, Leinster ask him to clarify again.
“Ball clearly lifted so he’s able to tackle him, tackled the arm, knocked forward,” says Carley.
Leinster get one back later in the first half as Doris grabs Dupont’s arm to force a loose pass, only for Joe McCarthy to knock-on as he attempts to gather the ball.
Doris initially tries to hook the ball backwards with his foot – which is legal – but can’t reach it and instead stretches his left arm out to grab Dupont’s left as the Toulouse scrum-half lifts the ball.
Again, you have to question whether Doris is really on his feet at the moment he grabs Dupont’s arm.
Doris is on his tip-toes and most of his weight is leaning on top of Toulouse flanker François Cros underneath him. It’s easy to argue that Doris is not in control of his own bodyweight as he snags Dupont’s arm and that this should have been a penalty to Toulouse.
Carley is happy again, though, as Dupont protests when play stops after McCarthy’s knock-on.
We can see Doris pointing downfield to where Aldegheri grabbed Gibson-Park’s arm.
“Ball lifted, on the arm, same as down there,” says Carley.
Dupont questions the call again.
“If the player’s on their feet and the ball is clearly lifted, they can tackle your arm the same as when Jamison picked the ball up there and you [Aldegheri] were able to tackle him,” says Carley.
There were a few other similar incidents in last weekend’s game in London.
The difference below is that Dupont is not part of the ruck and instead sets up onside in the defensive line but comes forward at speed when Gibson-Park picks the ball up.
Dupont grabs Gibson-Park’s arm before he can pass but the loose ball bounces up kindly for Ross Byrne and play continues.
However, the Toulouse scrum-half was penalised for a similar attempt in the second half.
Dupont is not part of the ruck but the difference this time is that he is deemed to be offside as he reaches out to grab Ryan Baird’s arm.
Leinster kick three points off the tee from this penalty.
Below, we see another similar incident with its own unique circumstances.
This time, Jordan Larmour is part of the ruck as he initially jackals but is cleared away.
The Leinster wing then resets just behind the ruck and leans over to grab Dupont’s arm after he lifts the ball.
Dupont’s pass is impeded and Leinster are able to claim the bouncing ball for a crucial turnover.
Larmour is clearly on his feet here and Carley obviously believes he is onside, even if Toulouse might have questioned whether Larmour’s right foot has crept just offside. The Dupont penalty comes later in the game but Toulouse could argue that it’s very similar.
There were several other instances in this game where players in the ruck attempted to grab at the scrum-half’s arm but didn’t make a firm connection. It was clearly a tactic both sides felt would be important.
Not everyone enjoyed it. While rugby is a sport in which contest is crucial in every moment of the game, this play has become quite messy and confusing. It definitely takes some skill and timing to pull off but it’s often preventing flow.
Those looking for change will be pleased to know that World Rugby has already made a move in that direction.
Among the closed trials World Rugby is running in its own competitions – the U20 Championship, U20 Trophy, and Pacific Nations Cup – this year is a law tweak concerning the protection of scrum-halves.
It says, “The nine will not be able to be played while the ball is still near a tackle, ruck or maul.”
So no more grabbing the scrum-half’s arm as they lift the ball from a ruck. That will be music to the ears of anyone wearing the number nine shirt, as well as many referees and spectators. This also means defenders in the maul can’t snag the attacking scrum-half from strange-looking positions after they’ve swung onto the attacking side but are legally bound.
It remains to be seen exactly what “near” means. Obviously, defences still need to be able to tackle the scrum-half if they snipe or scoot away from the ruck or maul but the hope is to clean up some of the messy stuff we’ve looked at above.
The other part of this closed law trial says, “The offside line at the scrum for the non-putting in scrum-half will be the middle of the tunnel.”
As things stand, the defending scrum-half’s offside line is the ball itself, as shown below.
Under this trial, the defending scrum-half can’t advance past the tunnel in between the two front rows where the ball is fed into the scrum.
There have already been trials in this area in Major League Rugby and community rugby in New Zealand so it will be interesting to see how much this changes scrum attack.
This trial protecting scrum-halves and a few other trials being run in the same competitions will be reviewed later this year and the findings will be presented to World Rugby’s executive board in November.
If it goes well, World Rugby will consider wider implementation across the game.
Those who have been shouting, “Won’t somebody please think of the scrum-halves?!” have finally been heard.
