Group of rowers scoffed, it's said (5)

I believe the answer is:

eight

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'group of rowers' is the definition.
'eight' can be an answer for 'rowers' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'group of' bit.

'scoffed it's said' is the wordplay.
'scoffed' becomes 'ate' ('to scoff' is to eat).
'it's said' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'ate' sounds like 'EIGHT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eight that I've seen before include "Figure" , "Cardinal number" , "Perfect cube" , "Cube of two" , "One over this for drunkeness" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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