So many alarm bells have been ringing about the direction and management of Super Rugby over the years – the grand expansion schemes followed by the almost inevitable culls of teams - that it's perhaps no wonder Sanzaar, the organisation in charge of it, appears tone deaf at times.
The latest unpleasant noise comes in the form of a collective blast of a whistle from referees ordered to crack down on scrums but who are apparently unequipped to know exactly what is going on in them.
The laws of rugby are so many and so complicated that there will inevitably be confusion at a referee's decision among viewers and spectators but the game is not in a good place when seasoned test front-rowers are nonplussed – and not just occasionally, but consistently - as we saw in the recent matches in particular between the Crusaders v Sharks and Brumbies v Blues.
Crusaders loosehead prop Joe Moody and Blues counterpart Karl Tu'inukuafe, both All Blacks, were singled out by Brendon Pickerill and Damon Murphy in their respective games and neither player has suddenly become a poor scrummager overnight.
It's time for those in charge to open their ears, and their eyes, too. The Bulls attracted a crowd of only 7483 to Loftus Versfeld for their recent win over the Waratahs. The ground holds 50,000 people.
They have now resorted to selling some tickets for their match against the Crusaders on Saturday for the equivalent of $2 and if that doesn't worry Sanzaar then it should, and they should know too that those who do attend won't be doing so to listen to South African Rasta Rasivhenge's whistle.
New Zealander Nick Bryant has got the job of overseeing the Blues v Hurricanes match at Eden Park on Friday after Leon MacDonald's men put in a significant amount of work into their scrum today. And so they should have – they were nearly whistled off the park in Canberra - and they're still unsure why.
Blues coach Leon MacDonald. Photo / Photosport
Bryant's job should be made easier for the fact it is a contest between two New Zealand teams who generally scrum to re-start play rather than for penalties when the same cannot be said of other teams in the competition.
For Blues coach Leon MacDonald, his frustration sits more squarely on the result of the match at GIO Stadium rather than the referee's decisions because he quite rightly said today his side should be good enough to adapt on the go.
But if it's the hope that kills - metaphorically, anyway – then inconsistency can do grievous bodily harm.
"We've had correspondence saying they're clamping down on the scrums," MacDonald said. "It's a hot topic at the moment with referees and as we get to the sharp end of the season we hope they're all really aligned on that.
"There's a bit of disparity around what the players are feeling and doing and what is being officiated so that's always a frustration but that's not the reason why we struggled.
"Players like things simple and coaches like things simple and obviously the referees do as well so hopefully they come to a good solution there.
"I suppose they [Blues front rowers] got dealt a heavy hand from the start and they weren't certain why. They were arguing the opposite so it puts them in two minds. They were struggling to know what they could and couldn't do after that and it compromised and them, really.
"We get posed problems … and the solutions aren't coming fast enough."
A strong scrum will keep the Blues, still in the playoffs hunt, in the game against the Hurricanes, who appear to be the second-best team in the competition behind the Crusaders.
Whether that's enough remains to be seen but what is more certain is that an empathetic set-piece display from Bryant will keep the spectators and viewers in it.
Inconsistency problem solved - at least I hope so.
