Western Force coach Michael Foley admits his team is still coming to grips with Super Rugby’s new scrum laws, but says there’ll be little margin for error when they lock horns with the Chiefs in Perth on Saturday night.
The Force’s scrum struggled badly in last week’s 31-29 win over the Highlanders, with the change to a “crouch, bind, set” system causing some confusion over what’s legal during the bind stage.
“We were encouraged to believe we would have to support our own body weight on the bind, but a lot of sides are actually moving all their feet back and leaning into the scrum,” Foley said on Friday.
“That’s creating some instability there. But we’ll cope with that over time.
“It’s a learning curve. With new scrum laws, it takes a little bit of time.”
While the Force have been working hard to improve their scrum, the Chiefs are bracing for an aerial bombardment.
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is confident his back three of fullback Gareth Anscombe and wingers Mils Muliaina and Asaeli Tikoirotuma will be able to diffuse the threat of the Force’s kicking game.
Rennie also expects the midfield pairing of Tom Marshall and Tim Nanai-Williams to provide the go-forward and X-factor on the counter-attack.
“We’ve got a job to do in regards to diffusing their kicking game,” Rennie said.
“But if we do that well, then we’ll get opportunities because they will give us a bit of ball.”
The Force (2-2) are riding a wave of confidence following consecutive bonus-point wins.
But their finals credentials will be put to the test against the unbeaten Chiefs, who have won the past two Super titles.
The Force haven’t won three games on the trot since 2007, and Foley said it would be great to achieve that milestone against the defending champions.
The Chiefs have been beset by injuries this season, but Foley said their enviable depth meant they could probably field two starting sides in the Super competition and still be competitive.
The Force will be without suspended forward Ben McCalman, but his loss has been offset by the return of Hugh McMeniman, who has recovered from a neck injury and will start in the No.6 jersey.
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