by The recent move to regenerate some of the atmosphere around the Twickenham experience was commendable, so you can imagine the organizers were screaming in their hands when another slow scrum last week left them with plenty of time of those present wondering what they were having for dinner.
Having said that, we are only a few months away from one of the most remarkable performances in recent memory by South Africa to win their Rugby World Cup semi-final against England, leaving the entire competition up. In the big moments the set-piece can now be more important than England skipper Dan Cole showed last week, who at the age of 36 has played in more scrums than you’ve had hot dinners.
“In international rugby there are fewer scrums but they’re more important, which is why teams don’t want to give an inch there and you’ve seen in the first few weeks of the tournament sometimes they’re a bit restless and slow . ,” Cole says, arguably kind.
“I know the response over the first few weeks of the Six Nations hasn’t been great, but of course [the scrum] can be a huge turning point in the game. Look at the world champions, for example, and how they use their scrum.
“It’s tough, because every scrum is raised. You’re playing international rugby so you won’t be playing against any mugs; everyone knows what they are doing and everyone is good. He wants to maximize that. I know there’s a lot of debate around the scrum and it’s about making it as competitive as possible within the role of the game.”
With the polarization of the Springboks’ dominance and the dormant scrum at Twickenham in mind, where better to learn more about how Rugby Union is preparing the forward players of the future.
Nathan Catt is England’s track scrum coach, working with the men’s and women’s age groups, and also part of the England ‘A’ coaching staff for the game against Portugal at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Catt’s job now is to shape the props of the future, a 12-year-old in the Gallagher Premiership with Bath, making 170 appearances.
When premiership prospects enter the under-18 set-up for the first time, Catt and the coaching staff are looking for three main components. The first is the potential for size and strength, which seems pretty obvious. Then there is attitude; the fight to compete and control collisions. The final aspect is skill acquisition – how quickly they can learn. One notable standard missing from that list? Technical ability.
“Personally, I don’t think they have to be great scrummagers at U18. We can teach them that in the next three years. The important part is those physical and mental attributes,” Catt explains to Telegraph Sport. “When you get to the school level you take your favorite ball carrier and stick at No. 8 them. So by the time you get to the U16s, Under 17s, the No. 1’s are all the best. 8 – mobile ball carriers, the most abrasive. players who influence the game the most.
“Then you realize that even though they could be a very good player, they could be an average goalie who won’t make the cut there but they could be a really good front line. They might not get 6ft 2in and run the 100 meters in 11 seconds – but maybe they can run it in 13 seconds and weigh up to 116, 117 kilograms (about 18 stone ). They could be really good up front in the front row – and most of the elite starters are ex-backs in this mold now, especially the loose ends and the hurlers.”
Ellis Genge, England’s vice-captain, is a perfect example of that evolution from the back to the front line, having made the move at the age of 16. It means that even at national level, coaches are talking to coaches. at U18. raw prospects in the front row “learning on the job” and “starting from scratch”, as Catt says.
The U18s are about “the general understanding and shape of a scrum”, before skills are refined at U20 level. Few props in the latter age group are regulars in the Premier League, with Sale’s exciting Asher Opoku-Fordjour a notable exception. Once the shapes are arranged, the first layers can focus on “strategies and problem solving”.
Will a French or South African mass pack not only destroy any carefully planned strategies? Well, yes. “Ultimately, if you’ve got a 100kg prop against a 130kg prop, and one squats 120kg and the other squats 240kg, the technique probably won’t matter much because they’re too much big and stronger,” admits Catt. “The higher the level you go, everyone’s technique is pretty good. It’s the smaller nuances.”
For Catt, her amazing success stemmed entirely from perfecting her shape before the engagement. He would watch a tape of Marcos Ayerza, the great poet of Leicester and Argentina, and try to replicate it. Then, after a strong performance of his own, Catt would take clips of his best scrums and use those as a benchmark.
“When I had a bad scrummaging performance, I could then go back to my best [efforts] and see if my leg was too long forward or if my elbow was too low, whatever part was wrong compared to me at my best. As you get used to your setup and processing, you’re much better at feeling if you get it slightly wrong.
“In a game, a tight end might be rolling and it might take you 60 minutes to work out how to fix it. Even if it happens horribly, you teach the store how to handle that experience again.”
The current training week for the F20s is a review and preview on Mondays, with the front rows working in one-on-one or three-on-one formations while the rest of the pack do weight and resistance exercises to increase “a”. spirit level spine’, that perfect scrummaging body shape” says Catt. On Tuesdays the intensity goes up to 50 per cent, and by Wednesday the pack comes together and they’re into live scrums – a vital eight-on-eight rather than simply against the scrum machine. Catt explains: “I don’t know how well the machines replicate the eight by eight, just because of the bindings and the movement of the legs. I personally think body on body is better now.”
Of course, Catt loves scrums as much as anyone, but like Cole he also sympathizes with the community. “I totally get it when you’re looking at three resets, you’re sitting there for five minutes and nothing happened.”
And yet as Cole and Catt both emphasize, the scrums have never been more important, providing “real competition where there is no vacuum” that can “decide games”, as Catt says. For that reason we should try to enjoy them. Just (safely) contact them faster, please.
