- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Welcome back to the forum. Today we have three clips again and this time there’s a lot of painful penalties – painful for the losers.
In this forum, we invite you to share your thoughts, fears and (happy) tears about the scrum. Everybody is welcome: backs, forwards, fans, non-fans, referees and coaches.
Please feel free to review the introduction article of the Scrumma-mogram.
1. Wallabies vs All Blacks Second Engagement
Here is the first one.
Today, we look at the start of the Wallabies’ scrum troubles. The All Blacks evolved, as opposed to the Wallabies. Also, some may argue that Slipper’s early substitution was a factor. Others may say that he was saved the embarrassment of poor scrum coaching and preparation.
DaffyD says
While the Wallabies have been doing poorly in the scrum, the All Blacks are always thinking about how to get an edge. Obviously great students of the PT Barnum School of Business, they realised very early on that the “Yes nine” from the referee was the cue to be ready to shove.
Nothing illegal, it’s all in the timing and the All Blacks timed it to perfection. This season, the “Yes nine” appears to have been dropped in favour of a tap or gesture, which makes it a little harder to grab that half-second shove advantage.
2. Penalty Tries – no place for yellows
Inspiration: Piru. Also a request by Adsa for Reds scrums, and by Harry Jones for Stormers scrum defence of a Bulls’ maul.
Whilst we have shown some unattractive scrums, there have been some beauties. We explore this today in two parts. Firstly, there are penalty tries scored by the scrum powerhouses. One of them, by the Chiefs, is a scrum that turns into a (pseudo) maul. This must be a new world record on penalty try distance.
In the second segment, we see how the Stormers defend a maul using scrum techniques. This was explained well by Charging Rhino in another article also. Another bonus engagement highlights a brutal yet clinical butchery persecuted by the Reds – featuring ‘Big Kev’ Horwill and company.
DaffyD says
Penalty tries were once as rare as a prop on the wing. You could go seasons without seeing one. Now there are more scrum penalty tries being handed out in a game than there are Cobbers in a bag of mixed lollies.
The Stormers did a great job in defending the maul against the Bulls, and I get the feeling that the Stormers got the Bulls going backwards before the Stormers were settled. And once the momentum was headed up the field, the Stormers forwards made a point not just binding and pushing. They also hit the maul to moved it with a flat back and good leg drive. Nice!
3. Just how awful was the Waratahs’ 2014 scrum?
Requester: Diggercane
I’ve been observing (whining) about the Waratahs scrum last year, especially after it translated into an even more terrible result for the Wallabies after Michael Cheika took over. Since then, there was been welcome and considerable improvement. This segment reviews the difference between the two ‘Tahs.
We look at not just the result, but also their form and the consistency of the Waratahs’ power and guile. Salute to Cheika, Mario Ledesma and the Waratahs for taking care of business.
Diggercane says
Many have noted the ‘meerkat’ impersonations done by loose forwards in recent times – fair enough. But as you can see, when the locks are up too high they don’t have much option as they have nothing to push against.
There is a noticeable difference in 2015 in terms of the height of the Waratah locks, which allows the flankers to get into a good position in behind their props seat. This allows them to contribute to the scrum.
Using Rob’s fantastic slow mo, you can even see Michael Hooper adjust and reengage behind Sekope Kepu just before they drive the Blues scrum in. Just wonderful.
DaffyD says
The video shows a massive transformation of the Waratah’s scrum. In 2014 the Waratah scrum is seen doing a great impersonation of the Harbour Bridge. In 2015 the ‘Tahs scum is flat-backed and powerful. A sight to behold. There’s obviously a lot of scrum coaching and work on the scrum machine going on.
I’m hoping that the Aussie Super Rugby teams seem to be improving enough across the board to see the start of a renaissance of the Australian scum and we’ll look back to 2014 as the low point of Australian scrumming.
Let’s see if the Super Rugby teams can continue to build on their hard work and if the Wallabies will be competitive in the Rugby Championship, leading into the World Cup.
Time will tell, but I feel we’re potentially in a much better position than I feared we would be at the start of the year.
OK, that’s all folks!
I hope it was fun! Your observations are appreciated. Questions are even more appreciated. No question is too silly. And anyone can answer! Please request any other engagements you want to be ‘Scrumma-mogramed’. We need ideas! And complaints, of course.
Also, stay tuned for the next round!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.