It looks like a violent sea of humanity. Thirty men on a field come together in a circle, legs churning, arms interlocked, and somehow a ball squirts free from the pile and one lucky (unlucky?) player picks it up and runs like the wind. It is the rugby scrum, and to the untrained eye, it looks like a mass of incoherent violence, but aficionados recognize the subtlety in the scrum and the game itself.
History
The anecdotal history of rugby points to a rebellious soccer player who had a mischievous lack of patience for the rules of his game. In a fit of demonstrable frustration during a match at Rugby School in England, young William Webb Ellis picked up the ball in the middle of play and ran down the field with it. It was a revelatory moment for fans and players alike, and a new game was born, or so the legend goes. Unfortunately, a good story is often just that---a story. Scholars point out that games similar to rugby existed for centuries before the Ellis legend, and rugby's origins more likely owe to those progenitors rather than a stroke of genius by a 16 year-old footballer.
Origins
There are three games in the historical record that may have served as the template for modern rugby. The first is a Celtic game called "Caid" that young Ellis may have actually witnessed during his excursions to Ireland as a boy. Caid likely was derived from a Roman game called "Harpastum," which in turn likely developed from the ancient Greek game "Episkyros." All three involve carrying a leather ball into the teeth of the opposing defense in an effort to cross the goal line at the end of the field.
Setting up a Scrum
After a play stoppage in American football, the two teams line up on opposite sides of the line of "scrimmage." The word appeared in early rugby rules as well until it was modified to "scrummage" and eventually "scrum" to signify the point at which the players engage after a stoppage. Unlike American football, rugby players in a scrum make direct contact with one another, forming a tight circle composed of eight forwards from each team.
In the early days, the scrum attracted fans, and some heaving contests could last for 20 minutes or more. Enhancements through the years led to shorter scrums with a greater emphasis on releasing the ball to the back---the remaining players not locked in the circle---and the runs and lateral passes that could eventually lead to a score.
Anatomy of a Scrum
The scrum is built on three rows of forwards. In the first row, two "Props" flank a "Hooker" in the middle. Row two is comprised of four more players called "Locks" and a solitary player in the third row is called simply the "Number Eight." The referee calls for the opposing teams to crouch, then touch, whereupon the players in the front rows puts their hands to the opponents' shoulders. After pausing to inspect the scrum for legality, the referee calls for engagement, at which time the halfback---one of the players not locked in the scrum---throws the ball into the gap between the opposing lines.
Winning the Scrum
Brute force is essential to winning a scrum, but balance and finesse also play a role. Inside the confrontation of the front rows, the props and hooker attempt to push the pile forward while they simultaneously use their feet to guide the ball backward. When the ball is released to the backs, they are permitted to pick it up and run with it, pass to another back or attempt a score by kicking the ball toward the opponent's goal post.
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