Rassie's radical refereeing plan to 'save' rugby: Get 5 of them on the field

Rassie Erasmus has revived the two-referee idea from 2014's Varsity Cup as a suggestion to improve the overall appeal of rugby.

The Springboks' director of rugby, in his latest column for England's Daily Mail, believes the game is "in trouble" if it doesn't actively address to particular problem areas with regards to refereeing: the breakdowns and scrums.

Ironically, it's been those exact two aspects that initially baffled the South African franchises in their inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) campaigns, with Bulls mentor Jake White in particular noting that scrums are fundamentally used differently in the two hemispheres.

In South Africa, it's used as a weapon for territory or points by using dominance to force penalties.

But up north, most sides want the set-piece to be over as quick as possible because it's an attacking platform.

Either way, Erasmus argues that specialist "scrum referees" could come on for the duration of those set-pieces and officiate it accordingly.

"For international rugby, why not form a group of world-class scrummaging experts — former players or coaches — to serve as specialist scrummaging referees?”"Get them in the gym so they are on and off the pitch quickly. It would be their only job, so they would have no impact on the rest of the game," he wrote.

"There are about 20 scrums a match so you could even put a microphone on them and link them up to the TV commentary team so the viewers understand what’s going on."

However, more pressing perhaps is the need for clarity at the rucks.

"The idea of two referees sounds radical and it has been tried, but it can work if done correctly," Erasmus stated.

"If it’s efficient and non-intrusive, it could make a massive difference around the tackle and