Aviva Premiership
Richards' fears over dangerous scrums
ESPN Staff
September 16, 2014
Newcastle fell to London Irish on Sunday © Getty Images
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Newcastle Falcons boss Dean Richards has expressed his concern over the actions of loose-heads in the scrum.

Richards was angered by referee Luke Pearce's performance in their opening match of the Aviva Premiership season and he was fairly nonplussed by Andrew Small's interpretation of the scrum in Sunday's 20-18 loss to London Irish at Kingston Park.

He fears the new positioning from the loose-head in the scrum is a potential danger to player welfare. Talking to the Newcastle Chronicle, Richards said: "Since the meeting with the directors of rugby during the summer the refereeing department seem to have said the loose-head can do what he wants until it has a material impact on the game.

"At scrum time we are seeing more and more loose-heads coming around the corner and driving up and through, which is making it quite a dangerous situation. That is for us to address with the refereeing department because it is becoming quite a concern, and becoming a danger."

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