I have raised this point before , here is a article that supports my view. We have spend many hours debating the time frame of the crouch, pause , engage calls by refs. I have asked many times , what did we gain in safety after all of this? Referees claim that they took control of the scrum engagement but with most penalties or free kicks the teams still opt for ANOTHER scrum.

The point i raised before was, how difficult is it for a prop to get a good grip on these skin tight jerseys? Read this article to see how the top players feel about it. At the end some of the comments already made about this article

Article from News24

It seems the props are struggling to come to grips with the skintight jerseys they’re being shoehorned into at the Rugby World Cup.

While the outside backs don’t seem to be having any problems parading physiques in the aerodynamic strips, for heavyset props the slim-fitting shirts are causing workplace safety problems in the engine room.

The key concern is the initial, split-second bind for frontrowers in the scrum, the time honoured rugby setpiece which pits packs of eight giant forwards in a head-on engagement.

“Yeah, definitely. I feel that tight shirts are not helping for the amount of collapsed scrums,” Argentina prop Marcos Ayerza said after the Pumas’ win over Georgia on the weekend.

“As a loosehead I find it hard to bind and attack a prop when he’s got a very tight shirt.

“It’s something to have a look at by every team, the regulation should allow the prop to have a bit looser (jersey).”

It’s a crucial area of the game for the Pumas pack, which is famed for its unyielding scrum.

Argentina meets top-ranked New Zealand in the quarterfinals this weekend. All Blacks prop Ben Franks, and England’s Matt Stevens, are among the big man airing similar grievances about the jerseys.

“Especially for a loosehead it’s a lot harder to get that initial bind,” Franks said. “There’s nothing really to grab, so you’re kind of grabbing for skin!”

Franks and Ayerza will be on opposite sides in the quarter-final clash on Sunday, while Stevens will tangle with the French front-rowers.

All will have to grin and wear their annoyance a while longer.

Forwards “are usually the last ones to be thought of,” Franks said.

“I’m pretty sure the props didn’t put in an order for super-tight jerseys from the get-go.”

Ayerza thinks the props need special dispensation.

“In any other position in the game you can have a tighter shirt, but (in the) scrum it’s a backwards thing to have a tighter shirt.”

It is no easy task for a behemoth prop to squeeze into one of these jerseys, either.

At 1.91 meters and 126 kilograms Tonga’s Soane Tonga’uiha must feel like he’s trying on a Lycra cycling suit.

“I prefer the loose ones, I prefer to breathe. I don’t like to hold my breath,” he said.

“My feeling: I personally don’t prefer a tight shirt, but if other props do then fair play to them.

“It’s up to the other prop to try and get a grip,” he continued.

“You’ve obviously got to work harder to get a grip, if you don’t get a grip it will be to the other prop’s advantage.”

Ayerza thinks it is not quite as bad for his teammate Juan Figallo, who is a tighthead prop.

“Sometimes as a tighthead you would have an advantage, because the scrum may collapse, and if he goes down it’s a 50-50 call,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be like that. It’s worse for a loosehead.”

Modern technology and constant innovation means the days of thick, heavy, sweat-drenched cotton jerseys are long gone.

“The history of jerseys is a long one. I couldn’t care, if I’m asked to play in a jersey from the 1980s, I’ll wear it.”

Back then, forwards could yank each other’s sleeves, or grab and pull a rival round by his collar in the grunt and frenzy of the rucks and mauls and scrums.

Over the last decade, many rugby players have crossed over from being sporting stars to celebrities, and every facet of their image has followed suit.

“Now skintight jerseys are in fashion, and we follow the fashion like anyone else,” Barcella said.

“If the fashion was old-style jerseys we would go back to it. Fashion always has an effect.”

For the French, style obviously is important.

“We’re asked our size, we try them on. Every player practically has a tailor-made jersey. I wear an XL, some wear an XXL,” Barcella said.

“They’re still very comfortable. I’ve known tighter jerseys, they seem that way but they’re fairly elastic, actually. There’s no problem on that level.”

Vastly improved technology has led to moisture-free, wafer-light synthetic polyester jerseys that protect players from most of the elements, keeping them dry on the inside.

The shift in jersey culture first came to prominence at the 2003 World Cup, when the England team brought the skintight look onto the world stage on the way to winning the tournament.

Initial issues with jerseys being ripped and torn have been overcome, although the there’s still the odd wardrobe malfunction.

“The jersey I swapped with Sean O’Brien from Ireland, his jersey was ripped,” Russia’s Australian-born lock Adam Byrnes said.

I agree with this, I played in the front row, the shirts these days are not jerseys anymore they should make rules pertaining to the type of jersyes the front rankers wear. Binding is key and you can’t do that properly with the lycra stuff these days.

At the very least the jerseys of the props should be regulated to comply with certain minimum requirements, like grasp-handles. It is not so much fashion as the knowledge that your opponent will not be able to bind properly and, therefore, possibly conceed a penalty that led to the present situation ‘fashion’. We will have more actual playtime if the jersey is regulated. The present rules are outdated. Alternatively, allow a prop to put his hand on the ground to steady himself and the scrum if his opponent insist on wearing this type of jersey. This could be determined by the referee before the game and a ruling made.

Why not let the props just balance with a hand on the ground? Im tired of watching scrums collapse, and the referees guessing who brought it down. Then also, most of the time a quick hand on the ground is let off without punishment, whilst suddenly in a one out of ten situation, at a seemingly poor time, a penalty is called and points are given away.

What advantage does a prop get from balancing on the ground? If you’re being pushed back, you mostly pop up, not collapse down. We all want to see legitimate and fair scrums, whhich do not collapse 90% of the time.

So let the props balance on the ground, and for goodness sakes, make the ball go down the tunnel again, not under the lock’s feet. If you can’t target scrum ball, set pieces become less important. Next thing you know the opposition wont be allowed to jump in the lineout!