The ball is trapped in a maul. A player has been injured. There is no obvious evidence as to which side had the advantage before a stoppage of play occurs. If only we had a reasonably neutral, easy and quick way to keep play flowing. Oh wait- we do!

The scrum has been part of the core of the Rugby Union game for 157 years. In that time, there have been very few injuries by comparison to any other aspect of the game, and indeed any other sport. In Rugby League the scrum is uncontested; how silly to see fourteen men stooped down leaning on each other as the scrum-half essentially rolls the ball through the legs of the flanker back to himself.

The Rugby World Cup has been around sicne 1987, involving over 125 countries. In that time, the worst of injuries was to Max Brito (Ivory Coast) during a ruck-not a scrum- when he was inflicted with total quadruplegla. Only one other injury has come anywhere near as bad, in the case of an Australian prop in 2003. In this occasion again it was not a scrum but a maul, and his shouts of "neck, neck" promted the other players to stop applying pressure immediately. He received no injury, other than a not-so-premature end to his playing career.

The concerns of players, parents and coaches alike have been taken into account by the RFU, who have insisted that scrummaging players must be suitably trained and that more substitutes for those in the scrum on the bench are present. The threat has been notified and dealt with.

Only at the top level, where players are trained immaculately does the ball so rarely change possession in a scrum. At schoolboy level it is far less co-ordinated, far less boringly predictable and far less dangerous than people make out.

In 2008, Wales famously won the 6 Nations grandslam. However, in their final game against France, they were dangerously close to losing. There was a French scrum just five metres from their line. The ball was put in. the french backs lined up to perform a set move that would surely score the winning try. the Welsh fought, pushed hard and turned over the scrum. They won the trophy that was rightfully theirs, and it would not have happened if the scrum was uncontested.

Rugby is a hard game to referee and manage. The scrum provides the referee with a way of fairly restarting play and letting players get on with the game. How boring would it be to give penalties and free kicks all the time? The scrum ties in forwards allowing tactical use of positioning players. Removing options like this would reduce it to a dull, low scoring contest like football.

The "game for all classes" will not continue to be so if one of the core values is taken out. What motivation is there to train, to work hard, to push with all your might if that aspect is removed? The game of rugby will not be rugby without the traditional forwards contest which is the scrum.