Exeter’s director of rugby, Rob Baxter, believes the sport should focus on creating a “genuine pushing contest” at scrums to make the game more exciting for spectators, while potentially boosting England’s prospects at Rugby World Cups.
The former Chiefs second-row, who has won two Premiership titles and a Champions Cup while in charge of the club, argues an emphasis on a physical scrummaging contest – not traditionally regarded as the most attractive element of the game by some – will mean creating space for backs to score tries.
“We can’t turn round and complain about set pieces at World Cups if we don’t have teams in the Premiership who try to get to the scrum contest,” Baxter said on Thursday before the Chiefs’ visit to Newcastle on Sunday.
“In the past it’s been too easy to not have a scrum contest. It should be pinning down 16 guys [both forward packs] and making it a genuine pushing contest, which is a fatiguing element for big forwards. It’s supposed to tie down 16 guys and get them tired, so the other guys can run around and score tries. That’s kind of what it’s for, and we’ve completely lost that element of the game.”
The scrum has been a hindrance to England at recent World Cups, when they were defeated by South Africa in 2019 and again this year. Four years ago in Japan, the Springboks’ “Bomb Squad” were dominant throughout, while in last month’s Paris semi-final England’s scrum crumbled in the final quarter.
Baxter, whose side are third in the Premiership with four victories out of six, says referees must be mindful of teams attempting to “win rewards for trying not to scrum” and has warned against further law changes.
“It can be over in three seconds because someone dives on the floor … or someone calls early engagement, or someone tries something clever, and it’s just up and gone,” Baxter said of current scrummaging in the Premiership. “And 16 guys are just ‘in the game’. No fatigue element.
“We [Exeter] have started right at the very basic part of it. Let’s get to a scrum contest first and that will open everything else up. I think if we actually return to trying to make that happen across the game – and that’s TV, refereeing, coaching … I think you will see the scrum become a very, very important element of the game.”
Asked which current law he would change, Baxter said: “I’m going to introduce a new law: We’re not going to change the laws of rugby union for 10 years … all we keep doing is talking about changing the laws and it’s driving me crazy.”
