Are scrums killing Super Rugby

...Twenty two minutes spent scrummaging in the weekends game..Force vs Crusties...One scrum alledgedly taking eight minutes..
Probably not news but scrums are a huge problem area..

Other statistics pointing to only one third of a game with any real rugby being played...hardly riveting viewing if that's the case...way to turn audiences off...
Bad enough having mediocre to poor quality teams in the comp, but all the stoppages, endless scrummaging collapses and resets is compounding a really bad situation...

Maybe it is not the scrums, per se. Maybe we should rather be questioning the reasons behind the number of scrums, on the one hand and the execution of the scrums on the other. My guess is that if you question the number of scrums you can easily blame the laws, refs, TMO, or who/what ever floats your boat. Blaming the refs et al is always the easy way out. However, if you question the reasons for the scrums, or the execution thereof, you have to point the finger at either the players or the coaches or both and that hurts. Scrums cannot cause problems, just like guns do not kill people. People with guns kill people. Having said that, I do not believe that scrums can be killing Super Rugby. One of the things that is killing Super Rugby is SANZAAR with their crap competition. The other one is the players and coaching teams with the crap rugby that they are dishing up.

 
Scrums may be taking up a lot of time but you can't be suggesting we do away with it, surely?

 Fark those Rugby League granny scrums .Short arm penalties might help a bit ,and I dont suppose we could get them to set like in ye olden days where it seemed to take bugger all time at all.

 A typical kbbs squeal. These softies hate the scrum. I recall the lardy Chiefies going backwards like a freight train in the scrums. An all to common sight!The kiwis have been working for years to turn rugby into a form of ballet where oaks like wee ben smith, wee beau bar rat, wee skud milner and the boys can shine.The scrum is an important part of rugby and just because nz and Oz find its so hard on their wee players doesn't mean it must be scrapped!!!
Beeno sticking up for the sacred traditions of rugby

 NZ scrum well enough to win everything in sight ,even the crusties have twice as many super titles as the SA and Oz teams combined .Plus all the 4 nats and RWC titles that good scrummaging can help you get .How well did your scrum do vs Japan and Italy beandork ?Chiefs scrum well enough to have 2 super titles how many do the breezy zephyres have ?

Wardaddy;

"like in ye olden days where it seemed to take bugger all time at all."

Fully endorse that...let rugby have positive action...nothing more boring than watching  heffalumps grinding themselves to death to earn a penalty

The fiasco of France and Wales last week that extended the 80 minute game to 100 minutes...bloody ridiculous.

Beeno, the number of times kiwis had to look away out of embarrassment for the poor wee sabbs (South African bird brains) when the Bok scrum went hurtling backwards at a rate of knots are too many to count. It is important that we show respect for those in need
cc I don't think any true rugby fan wants the scrum scrapped but anything that can be done to reduce resets & the mysteries of refs calls is a good thing.

I think Egon Seconds reffing of the scrums in the Sharks vs Kings game in round 4 was excellent and a few refs would do well to take a leaf out of his book.
On at least three occasions the scrum got a bit untidy but Seconds allowed play to go on without resetting the scrum when all the other refs would have blown up for an immediate reset.
On at least two of those occasions the front rows had all come up but there was no danger to the players so instead of wasting everyone's time and resetting, Seconds told the scrumhalf where the ball was and to get on with it and the game went on.
Wish the other refs would follow suit. It's really annoying when the ball is at the feet of the #8 and the scrumhalf is about to pick it up and send it down the backline when the ref blows his whistle and says one of the props came up so we'll go through the whole performance again.

The whole idea of the scrum is to offer a fair contest and to get the ball back in play. So I agree Rooi, blowing constantly when the contest has been fair and the ball is coming out is unnecessary.

 If you want to take away scrums from rugby, you might as well stop calling it rugby. Rugby has been going down the tubes because of all the tampering with the laws of the game. It is time to stop this BS. I firmly believe that all this fixing of something that is not broken, that is just stuffing it up even more.
They have been trying all kinds of measures to promote "running rugby" and guess what? They are still kicking the fecking ball. Why? Because kicking is an integral part of the game. They have been tampering with the scrums for ages and guess what? The scrums are becoming more and more of a mess.
Once again, the issues with the scums are not law related, they are people related. They are due to either the policing thereof or they are due to the execution of the scrums. My opinion is that it is more due to the execution of the scrums, in which case the finger needs to be pointed at the players and the coaches.
Taking away the scrum to solve the problem is like banning all cars to prevent vehicle accidents.

Leave the scrums be, buuuuuuut, they really aren't as important as people think. I remember watching the AB's vs Aus last year. The Aus scrum was killing the AB scrum....and it meant nothing. After destroying yet another AB scrum, the Oz forwards were celebrating and doing a bunch of arse slapping etc, meanwhile the ball was already long gone from behind the NZ pack and the Aus backs were defending for their lives. 
We have such huge focus on things like scrums in SA rugby, when the whole world has figured out ways to nullify scrum dominance. Yet another area SA rugby has missed the boat completely.  

 Scrums cannot cause problems, just like guns do not kill people. People with guns kill people.

Guns are tools designed to fit a  use in purpose. They never better serve than when used to fit the purpose.

Blaming players for the current scrum sight is a dead end. The expectation is simple: teams oriented toward forward based play must be able to put out clean, smooth running scrums.
It is quite the opposite: scrums are often cleaner when played between teams that consider scrummaging as a kick off.
When forward oriented teams are opposed, it turns out into a show of bending, twisting, tumbling around, rolling over the ground, begging for penalties etc

A powerful drive during a scrum is a moment of emotion. When the scrum is run smoothingly. Teams do not manage to do that because scrummaging includes too many factors.