George North delivers a timely fitness boost for Wales

My sense is that, much like Australia and even New Zealand, rugby is a private school thing and not producing the numbers as they once did?

I’d like more stats around how many scrums are adjudicated incorrectly per game before I’d agree with the term lottery. Can’t be so hard to do if we’re measuring how much time we’re saving in games down to the second?

Where is the data to back your claim that scrums are a lottery?

And I’d hazard a guess that refs make multiples of greater errors reffing rucks. Missing all sorts of things regularly and having a greater impact on results overall than the less than a handful of scrums that might be called wrongly over 80 minutes (on a bad day).

10 bucks says if England, Ireland, France or Wales won a World Cup with a dominant scrum - we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

It would be scrums this and salads that for days.

Scrum penalties lead to points on the board. A “free” attacking run. Or a territorial gain. These are positive things that move games in a direction. Put pressure on defending teams and adds to the intensity of the game.

They’re much more than just a reset.

Just because the NH arrived to the party recently, we’ll change the game to suit you guys. And be good little Southern Hemispherics and know our place.

If you’re scrum isn’t good, don’t make handling errors.

The scrum can become an attacking weapon once again - just as it was in the amateur era when they didn't award all the pens!

If a scrum moves forwards, just ask the deending forwards to retire behind the rear foot as if its was a maul.

There would be ample attacking opportunity created.

Atm there are far too many pens given for technical offences which do not deserve it. In what other area of the game does a bloke get pinged simply because he is not competent enough at his job? He may give away the ball or a give up a break instead.

Perhaps the drama and mystique (including the time wasted) setting up and engaging in scrums should be glorified over the shrill complaining about how slow the game is.

Tripe. Even moodern front rowers will tell you there is nothing glamorous about it at all!