When does the referee give a scrum?
A scrum restarts play with a contest for the ball after a minor infringement or a stoppage. Typical reasons are a knock-on, which the law now calls a knock forward, and a forward pass. The referee sets it in the scrum zone at the point closest to where it happened.
| What happened | Who feeds the scrum |
|---|---|
| A knock-on or forward pass, other than at a lineout | The team that did not offend |
| A knock-on, forward pass or incorrect throw at a lineout | The team that did not offend, 15 metres in from touch |
| A penalty, when the team chooses a scrum | The team awarded the penalty |
| The ball is not played after the "use it" call at a scrum, ruck or maul | The team without the ball |
| A tackle or ruck where the ball cannot be played | The team last moving forward |
| A maul ends without the ball coming out, for example it collapses or stops moving for more than five seconds | The team that did not have the ball when the maul started. If the maul formed straight after a player caught an opponent's kick, the catching team. |
| The defending team takes the ball into its own in-goal and it is made dead | The attacking team |
A team awarded a free-kick can no longer choose a scrum instead. A team awarded a penalty still can.
Who packs down in a scrum?
With 15 players a side, each team packs eight: two props and a hooker in the front row, two locks, and three back-row players. The props bind to the hooker, who binds with both arms. The locks bind to the props and to each other, and each back-row player binds onto a lock with at least one arm. A team down to fewer than 15 players may pack fewer, but never fewer than five. Before the match, each team names its front-row players to the referee, and only they may play in the front row of a contested scrum.
How does the referee set the scrum?
The referee marks the middle line, and both teams must be ready within 30 seconds. The front rows stand no more than an arm's length apart with the hookers at the mark. The referee gives each call only when both sides are square, stable and stationary.
Crouch
First call
Front rows crouch with heads and shoulders no lower than their hips, and hold that for the whole scrum. Each head goes to the left of the opponent's. Each hooker puts a brake foot forward in the middle of the tunnel.
Bind
Second call
Each loose-head prop binds with the left arm inside the opposing tight-head's right arm. Each tight-head binds with the right arm outside the loose-head's left upper arm. Props grip the back or side of the opponent's jersey and keep that bind.
Set
Third call
The hookers take their brake feet back and the packs engage, forming the tunnel. Every player must be ready to push, with both feet of each front-row player on the ground.
The feed
Then
The law calls it the throw-in. The scrum-half feeds from the chosen side, from outside the tunnel, without delay and in one quick forward movement. The ball must go in straight and first touch the ground inside the tunnel, though the scrum-half may line up a shoulder on the middle line.
What may players do once the ball is in?
The scrum begins when the ball leaves the scrum-half's hands. Only then may the packs push.
- Push straight and parallel to the ground. Pushing the other pack off the ball is a legal way to win it.
- Front-row players may strike for the ball, usually called hooking, once it touches the ground in the tunnel, with either foot but not both at once. The feeding team's hooker must strike.
- Anyone in the scrum may play the ball with the feet or lower legs only, and nobody may lift it.
- When the scrum is stationary and the ball has been available at the back for three to five seconds, the referee calls "use it" and the team must play it out straight away.
The scrum ends when the ball comes out anywhere except the tunnel, when the player at the back picks it up or the scrum-half plays it there, when the number eight picks it up from a lock's feet, when it reaches the try line, or when the referee blows for an offence.
Wheeling, collapsing and resets
If a scrum collapses, or a player is lifted or forced up out of it, the referee must blow straight away. When nobody is at fault, the scrum is reset and the same team feeds again. A reset follows when the ball goes out of either end of the tunnel, the scrum collapses or breaks up, it wheels through more than 90 degrees, neither team wins the ball, or the ball is kicked out of the tunnel by accident.
Deliberately collapsing the scrum, falling or kneeling, charging, pulling an opponent, or lifting an opponent out of the scrum on purpose is dangerous play and a penalty. The under-19 variations also make deliberate wheeling an offence.
Where must everyone else stand?
Players not in the scrum stay at least five metres behind their team's hindmost foot. If that foot is in in-goal or within five metres of their try line, their try line is the offside line instead. Once the ball is in, the scrum-half of the team with the ball keeps at least one foot level with or behind the ball. The other scrum-half may stay near the scrum with both feet no further than the centre line of the tunnel, which is a Global Law Trial, or drop back for good. The offside lines end when the scrum ends.
Common scrum offences and what the referee gives
| Offence | Referee gives |
|---|---|
| Not ready within 30 seconds | Free-kick |
| Front row with heads and shoulders below the hips | Free-kick |
| No brake foot during crouch and bind | Free-kick |
| Crooked feed, or a feed that does not land in the tunnel | Free-kick |
| Pushing before the ball is fed | Free-kick |
| Feeding team's hooker not striking | Free-kick |
| Scrum-half pretending the ball is out | Free-kick |
| Wrong formation or illegal binding | Penalty |
| Not pushing straight and parallel to the ground | Penalty |
| Playing the ball with anything but the feet or lower legs | Penalty |
| Deliberate collapsing, charging, pulling, or lifting an opponent | Penalty |
| Offside at the scrum | Penalty |
| Ball not played after "use it" | Scrum to the other team |
The law defines a penalty as the award for a serious infringement. From a penalty, a team may kick at goal for three points, kick to touch and throw in at the lineout, tap and run, or take a scrum. A free-kick cannot be kicked for a penalty goal or swapped for a scrum.
What happens when scrums go uncontested?
Scrums become uncontested when either team cannot field a suitably trained front row, or when the referee orders it. The feeding team wins the ball and nobody may push. If this follows a sending-off, a yellow card or an injury, both teams still pack eight. In elite rugby, or where the match organiser decides, the player whose departure caused it cannot be replaced.
Under-19, sevens and community variations
World Rugby publishes under-19 scrum variations, and a union may apply them at defined levels of the game. Under them:
- A pack may not push more than 1.5 metres towards the opponents' goal line. The sanction is a free-kick.
- A team may not keep the ball in once it is heeled and controlled at the base. The sanction is a free-kick.
- Deliberate wheeling is a penalty, and an accidental wheel past 45 degrees is reset.
- If a team cannot field suitably trained front-row and lock players, the referee must order uncontested scrums.
- An eight-player scrum packs 3-4-1. If one scrum drops below eight, the other must match it, down to five.
Sevens scrums have three players a side, and teams must be ready within 15 seconds. Tens scrums have five players a side. World Rugby's Game On variations for the lower end of the community game let match organisers reduce scrum numbers, use the 1.5 metre push limit, or play uncontested scrums.