A scrum in rugby is made up of eight players from each team. Each team has three rows in the scrum. The tunnel is the area between the teams' front rows. Players are required to stay bound together in the scrum until the ball leaves it. Players try to gain possession of the ball by hooking it with their feet. Scrummaging effectively gives a rugby team a tremendous advantage, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Infringements
A scrum restarts play after a minor infringement, and is formed at the place where the infringement occurred, according to BBC Sport. Infringements that lead to a scrum include a knock-on in which the ball is fumbled toward the other team's goal line; a forward pass in which a pass is received by a player who is in front of the passer; a touch-down in which a player grounds a ball in his own try zone; a touch-down in which a player propels the ball across his own dead-ball line after carrying it; a breakdown in which a contact situation becomes static with the ball failing to emerge from it; a line-out in which a throw into a line-out fails to be straight; and restarts in which the ball doesn't go the required distance, according to MIT.
Binding
Players must bind themselves together in the scrum. Each player is required to use his whole arm--from shoulder to hand--and grasp his teammate at armpit level or below, advises Rugby IQ. Failure to bind properly results in a penalty kick.
Positioning
Players who are not participating in the scrum have to stay behind offside lines except for the scrum-halves. The scrum-half on the team that is awarded the scrum feeds the ball into his scrum's left side. The scrum-half is required to throw the ball straight down the middle between the front two rows. The scrum-half from the defending team is allowed to follow the ball as it goes through the scrum, but this player must stay behind the ball, advises MIT.
Feeding
When a scrum-half does not throw straight through the middle of the teams' front rows a penalty can result. The penalty, dubbed "feeding," leads to a free kick to the other team. Enforcement of this law of rugby is lax, however, advises "Rugby for Dummies," by Mathew Brown, Patrick Guthrie and Greg Growden.
End of the Scrum
The scrum ends when the ball comes out. This can happen when the scrum-half removes a ball that's successfully passed through the scrum. It also can occur if the ball is kicked out of the end of the scrum. When the ball comes out, a scrum-half is not allowed to fake a pass. This is called "dummying." A scrum-half who does this can incur a penalty. He's also open to being tackled, advises Brown.
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