Daily Telegraph columnist Brian Moore re-enters the debate over scrum in the modern game.
"At one penalty won by Leicester, Castrogiovanni twisted Thomas so far round the Welshman almost ended up staring at the face of his hooker and captain Matthew Rees. This occurred with the Irish referee only two yards away after he had come round to the non put-in side of the scrum to see what was going on.
"Given we are repeatedly told that the engage sequence is supposed to be for referees to check distance, body angles, binding etc (so much so they allegedly cannot watch the straightness of the put-in), it is bewildering Rolland did not see this blatant illegality and penalise it. Still, Rolland should not worry — enforcing the laws of rugby appears to be only one of the assessment criteria for refereeing at elite level and not a very important one at that.
"Belatedly, it is dawning on the IRB that what some of us have been saying for nigh on five years is correct — the scrum is important and retains popular support from fans who do not want its defenestration, in whole or part. However, as managed by elite referees and the IRB, the scrum is a constant source of frustration; it is boring and very possibly dangerous."
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