Rob Baxter has called on the game's lawmakers to forget about trying to make the game more entertaining by speeding it up and focus on reinforcing staples like the scrum.
Exeter's director of rugby fears that incessant meddling with the laws and scrums tending to end in resets with props prepared to go down rather than backwards is making the game more like rugby league with space at a premium.
“The key in the scrum is to get the opposition into a contest,” said Baxter. “It has been too easy to avoid that and we need to get on top of it.
“A scrum is about pinning down 16 guys and making it a genuine pushing contest that is fatiguing for the big guys and gives backs the chance to run around their opposite numbers and score tries.
“We have completely lost that element of the game. If it is not a pushing contest it can be over in three seconds because someone drives to the floor, engages early or pulls the prop and 16 guys are in the game with no fatigue element.
“If they know it will be a pushing contest you then have a platform to attack from because the opposition back row has to stay down. If the opposition does not want to commit to the physical contest, you have the chance to win penalties and kick for position. If we return to trying to make that happen, I think you will see the scrum becoming a very important element of rugby, but what we keep trying to do is circumvent it with law changes and tweaks.
“That is the last thing we need. We should not be trying to have a complete ball-in-play time without a physical contest with 30 guys on the field. It does not create a game of rugby because there is no space and you end up with a 15-a side version of rugby league.”
Baxter said World Rugby should put a moratorium on law changes to provide players, coaches and spectators with a period of stability. “Referee the laws as they are, get proper scrum and maul contests, keep players on the field when you can and you would have an amazing product very quickly,” he said.
