UNLESS YOU ARE a tighthead prop, chances are that you don’t love it every time a referee signals for a scrum. Modern rugby has seen an increased emphasis on that part of the game and where once it was used as a way to restart proceedings, now sides often plan to have as many scrums as possible.

The countless resets devour time off the clock and it can be excruciating for fans to endure but South African rugby is looking at ways to promote attacking play from the scrum, according to South African site Sport24.

The Varsity Cup, which is South Africa’s fourth-tier tournament, have brought in a rule where the defensive scrum-half can’t pass the tunnel, meaning the attacking scrum-half has much more space to get the ball away.

Ideally this will encourage sides to play the ball more freely from the base and limit the amount of resets.

Another interesting idea the Varsity Cup has brought in for this season is a ‘white card’ that can be used by captains and coaches to refer an incident to the TMO. This can be done once per half and it allows teams to check things that the referee has missed.

Ultimately the two rules might have little impact on the game but the rugby authorities should be looking at the Varsity Cup closely this year to see how they go.

The scrummaging rule is particularly important and it could be a real win for attacking rugby.

How many of these noughties Irish rugby internationals can you remember?

Ashley Johnson has been cited for this challenge on Leinster’s Dave Kearney