Putting the ball into the scrum.

Dear ref,

Having played all my rugby career as a hooker it infuriates me when I watch a game, and I've just seen it in every game from the world cup which was on TV, why do referees allow the scrum half to put the ball into the scrum crooked when the law says explicitly that it must be put in straight. Are referees interpreting the word straight as straight into his own second row or even to his number 8?

If this is allowed to happen and we see it all the time, then what's the point of a scrum at all? Does a present day hooker even know how to hook the ball, because he certainly doesn't have to when the ball's going in behind him? Wouldn't a "play the ball" as in rugby league be more effective? !t certainly couldn't be classed as dangerous like a scrum where they push is!

Regards,

Don

Don

What we see on TV is not representative of rugby as a whole.  At grassroots level, where the vast majority of rugby is played, the put-in is penalised for being crooked.

The Rugby Ref doesn't appear on TV and is as exasperated as you are over the crooked feeds that were allowed during the Rugby World Cup.

Let's not change the game because of a minority.

The Rugby Ref