Six Nations 'to trial new brake foot scrum law' - Daily Mail

The upcoming Six Nations will see a new 'brake foot' scrum law trialled, which is designed to prevent degenerative neck injuries developing in hookers.

It will be mandatory for hookers to have one foot forward at the 'bind' stage of the 'crouch, bind, set' sequence called by the referee, The Times have revealed, with the change designed to act as a brake on scrums and prevent 'axial loading'.

Axial loading is an unintended consequence of the change made by World Rugby to scrum calls from 'crouch, touch, pause, engage' to 'crouch, bind, set' in 2013.

Neck injuries have been caused since then by packs leaning forward on the 'bind' call, which sends a huge force through the spine and neck of the hooker, leading to fears of paralysis.

World Rugby banned axial loading before the 2019 World Cup, but have been warned that packs all over the world are still doing it to try and gain an advantage at scrum-time before the referee calls 'set'.

By the hooker placing his front foot forward clearly for the referee to see, packs will not be able to axial load their hooker. If they are found to do so, the referee will punish them by awarding a free-kick.

'It feels like your neck is about to snap,' Wales and Worcester hooker Scott Baldwin told The Times. 'When I went to see the surgeon, the surgeon said that since the law change [in 2013] he has seen a significant increase in operations on the upper necks of hookers.'

The trial is taking place in the men's, women's and Under 20 Six Nations, which all start next weekend.

source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-10448073/Six-Nations-trial-new-brake-foot-scrum-law.html

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