Eddie Jones has claimed that the game\u2019s bigwigs are attempting to reduce the impact of the scrum after watching the Springboks\u2019 victory over Argentina on Saturday.<\/b><\/p>\n
The set-piece has been a key weapon for South Africa over the past few years and it has been vital in them winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups.<\/p>\n
Since their triumph in 2023, World Rugby tweaked the laws by taking away the scrum option from a free-kick, an amendment the Boks<\/a> claimed was deliberately targeting them.<\/p>\n Last month Jones<\/a> voiced his frustration over the situation, stating that referees and officials are under instruction from their bosses to limit the scrum\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n The Japan head coach has already called on the governing body to fix the issue but, having watched the most recent round of the Rugby Championship, the 65-year-old went a step further and suggested they could be trying to sabotage the scrum.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 frustration<\/p>\n \u201cThat first [Springboks] scrum, if that\u2019s not a penalty\u2026 he (the referee) says you\u2019ve got to go up both sides, but it looked like they were going up both sides \u2013 the only thing that didn\u2019t go up was the turf in the ground,\u201d Jones said on the Rugby Unity podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gives you an indication of how they\u2019re trying to referee the scrum, they\u2019re trying to take the scrum out of the game. Whether it be overtly or not, they\u2019re trying to take the influence of the scrum out of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Eddie Jones: \u2018If this continues, we will lose scrums\u2019 as ex-Wallabies boss pleads with World Rugby over referee inconsistencies<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n South Africa struggled to gain dominance in the set-piece in the first half of their 67-30 triumph over Argentina, with tighthead Thomas du Toit being penalised on occasions, before they managed to get some reward in the second period.<\/p>\n Those first-half scrum issues ultimately did not matter as the Springboks managed to play some spellbinding rugby in the second period to secure a comfortable win.<\/p>\n Their backline was in sparkling form as they ran in six tries after the interval, but Jones observed that it wasn\u2019t necessarily their skills with ball in hand that set up that success.<\/p>\n