Former Ireland hooker Keith Wood has backed World Rugby's bill that could remove scrummaging powers.
A number of ideas have been proposed and will be voted on by the World Rugby Council in May.
This includes preventing teams from taking the scrum option when awarded a free kick on a set piece.
Critics say it will lessen the impact of the scrum, which understandably angers South Africans given that it is one of their main weapons.
The logic of world rugby
The idea is to help speed up the game, but it has generally received a negative response. However, Wood believes this is a positive step and thinks the governing body's ideas will benefit the game.
“I like the fact that it takes less time to scrum,” he said off the ball.
“We need to be faster. It's a joke that scrums last four or five minutes. I never bought into saying, 'You can't take scrums anymore.' Because if you're better than that team and you can push them back, why shouldn't you go and get another scrum? penalty?
“But then you come to the idea that the basis of the scrum shouldn't be about penalties, the basis of the scrum should be about winning penalties and keeping the ball away. That's ultimately what it should be. is.
“Maybe the fact that if you beat your opponent and it's given as a penalty, it's a free kick and the game is over.
“I don't like games where you hold a scrum for three minutes until someone collapses under pressure. That's the defining nature of this game. It seems a bit wrong.”
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Few deny the need to increase the speed of the scrum, and some look back on how quickly set pieces were set up.
But Wood claimed that scrums back then were “very dangerous”, but now the pressure on front-row players' bodies is immense.
“It's funny, a lot of people I know look back with rose-colored glasses and say Scrum was better,” he said.
“That wasn't the case. The scrum was chaotic, and it was also very dangerous. Now the kind of danger is different, but the pressure is quite extraordinary.
“It's very difficult to attack under pressure at the moment. The players are bigger and farther from the ground, so it's a little difficult.”
Reducing substitutes
Wood also reiterated his desire to reduce the number of substitutes allowed during matches.
Although no proposal has been made by World Rugby ahead of the May vote, the Irish legend hopes it will be considered in the future.
“Achieving the sub cap is a big thing for me. I really think we should cut down to four or five subs. We might have eight or nine on the bench, but only four can play. Only one person or five people,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if we have another injury and the team drops (to 14th place), it’s just an element of luck.
“(Referee) Mathieu Reynal, who is retiring this year, came out and said that's something we're very keen on, and I agree with that.”
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