Has there been a change to the laws of the scrum / directive

[COYBIB]

I notice a lot this season a lot, lot less penalties are being given at scrum time, whereas previously I feel like a penalty would be awarded.

I think the "old" (?) approach of scrums being a penalty lottery was very frustrating and lost it's way in what a scrum actually is, which is a way of restarting the game, like a lineout, and not really supposed to be about continuous penalties.

It seemed previously, if you drove a team way back or off the ball, you would every time get an advantage, whereas now it seems like a lot less, also, if the ball is available and the scrum collapses, the game continues rather than a reset / penalty.

Has something changed that I missed? Or has there been a directive / have refs just started allowing the game flow from scrums rather than constant resets and penalties? It's no bad thing by the way, there were way too many penalties off scrums, but sometimes it's frustrating if a scrum destroys another, maybe even going forward so much that the 8 loses control of the ball at his feet, but it's just play on if it pops out rather than an advantage, which would usually be for complete bind loss that happens when a scrum is being destroyed.

[Fan with smartphone]

Certainly seems that way watching the super rugby and Clancy also got a bit of grief in the challenge cup final after he called 'use it.' Today that young referee, i think he did Ireland-Italy (and I think he is very good) clearly said: 'ball at the back of scrum and scrum not moving; use it.' Like the Clancy incident if the scrum then does start edging forward after the call, it can be hard for the attacking team to control and they give up possession. I really like it as a rule change (if that's what it is) as it encourages a change of mindset, without completely neutering the scrum either. Think it will have a big impact on the northern hemisphere game and for the better.