An Ireland front-row veteran has given a chilling account of the pressure on a hooker during a scrum that's led World Rugby to change the set-piece laws with immediate effect.
The governing body's Law Review Group held a two-day summit in London at the end of last month with injury prevention at the heart of their meeting.
Reducing the number of concussions in the game was the major topic for discussion with six proposals to assist in player welfare up for debate.
And as a result of those discussions, an immediately effective law change to the front-row of the scrum is being brought in to avoid potentially serious injuries in the set-piece. You can read the details of the new emergency law here.
World Rugby has banned ‘axial loading’, a process of concentrating scrum power on the opposing hooker instead of allowing it to be spread along the shoulders of the opposing front-row.
Wales and Harlequins hooker Scott Baldwin was the first player to welcome the set-piece change, writing on his Twitter account: "Finally! Only taken 3/4 years to change it #BetterLateThanNever."
And 61-times capped former Ireland prop Mike Ross, who last played a Test against the Springboks in 2016, has expanded on the dark art of preparing for a scrum that World Rugby are attempting to outlaw.
The former Harlequins and Leinster tighthead, lauded as a technically gifted scrummager, wrote on his social media account: "On the bind, the hooker and props put their feet back, and most of the weight was loaded onto the hooker, through his neck and head, and onto the shoulder of the opposing hooker.
"The shoulders aren't touching so they're not obviously pre-engaged, but the head of the hooker is jammed against his opposite number's shoulders.
"This would disrupt the shape of the opposition pack (as you can imagine if 800 odd kg is now being leaned on your hooker).
"You now cannot get across the mark quickly because of the weight of the opposition pack is on you.
"The team doing the "axial loading" enjoys their advanatge. Obviously this kills (eventually) the hookers neck."
The law change imposed by World Rugby effectively means during the start of a scrum, the hooker is stopped from leaning into his opposite number and transferring the weight of his fellow forwards onto his rival No.2 at the "BIND" call from the referee.
There must now be a clear gap and the official can insist on longer binding if necessary.
The first scrum offence will result in a free-kick and any further infringement of the new law will result in penalties for the remainder of the game.
Repeat offending will result in a yellow card.
