As World Rugby consider ways of resuming the game in these challenging times, Matt Williams explained on Off The Ball's Wednesday Night Rugby why he believes the scrum would be no great loss for rugby at the elite level.
It will not be without a great deal of care that any professional sport resumes amid the continued threat of Covid-19 on a worldwide level. Recent reports have suggested that rugby, a game in which physical exchanges between opponents - and indeed teammates - is frequent, may have to adopt radical measures if it is to resume.
Described as something of a flier from the game's governing bodies on Off The Ball's Wednesday Night Rugby, it was reported that World Rugby would consider making significant changes to both mauling and the scrum.
Be it the removal of resets or the scrum outright, neither Matt Williams nor Rúaidhrí O'Connor expect a decision as seismic to be made necessarily. Nevertheless, for the former Leinster head coach Williams, radical thinking on this matter could be exactly what rugby needs.
"The scrum is a blight on the game with these three minute resets we see," he expressed. "They are a terrible blight on the game and they just take too long.
"I mean, there was one stage there in the World Cup final where after the referee had blown his whistle and called for a scrum, it was another 40 seconds until the South African hooker actually got to the mark and put his hands up just to form the scrum. That has to change."
23 February 2020; The England and Ireland packs prepare to engage in a scrum. Photo by Brendan Moran/SportsfileAlthough the scrum is currently a fundamental aspect of the game of rugby, Williams explained that he is not alone in possessing these frustrations about the time it takes to complete.
"Its been suggested to me that under the guise of virus there is a certain group in World Rugby that I would support who want to change a few things," he outlined, "and here's the chance.
"There's no doubt, when you're in a maul or a scrum, the bodily contact for those guys in there is extraordinary. To minimise that, especially as you're thinking of going down the lower levels of the game, I think it would be a really positive thing."
In response to the prospect of such a change, however, former Munster and Ireland player Alan Quinlan roundly rejected the very notion that the laws of the sport would be changed in such a fashion.
"You can't play rugby without scrums," he responded to the suggestion on Monday's OTB AM. "If you get to a situation where you are tinkering around with that stuff, then you are better off not playing the games."
Ultimately, though it may serve to slow down the game at the highest-level, Matt Williams admitted that he would be reluctant to see any wide-range changes made that would compromise rugby's ability to cater for young players of all shapes and sizes.
You can listen to Matt Williams and journalist Rúaidhrí O'Connor on Off The Ball tonight from 7:00 pm. If you miss that, be sure to catch up later via podcast or on OTB's YouTube channel.
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