The return of the scrum

rugby365 columnist Jon Harris, himself once a master in the dark art of front row play, tells us why he is celebrating the return of the scrum as a major skill set.

Pardon me for referring to myself, but a certain high-profile coach, who partnered me in the scrum at hooker in the dinosaur days, once told me, that the scrum was no longer the facet of play that we placed so much attention and importance on, it was now merely a point to restart the game.

There were between eight and 12 scrums in an international, and the days of choosing a strong, but slow prop were long gone. Well, as has been claimed over and over again in this year’s Tri-Nations, the game now changes from year to year and we therefore have to accept that certain facts could become myths from one season to the next.

The one outstanding feature of the Southern Hemisphere international season, starting with the British & Irish Lions series, is the impact scrumming now has on the game and the importance now being placed on this facet.

As a prop, it is heartwarming to see this skill return.

This past week, Cobus Visagie, an incredibly strong and technical tighthead, and now a scrum guru, was quoted in a local newspaper on the shortcomings or rather errors John Smit has been making in his technique. His points rang true with any honest prop, who sat in front of his television set, analysing the technique of any front row, wondering why the basic defects in the front row’s play were not being addressed.

As a comparison, let’s move the focus to Western Province. Up until this year, the Province or Stormers tight five, has been their weak point. As some would call them, the ‘Province Light Five’ have been the cause of many of their woes. This year they have improved enormously and there are a number of reasons for this. Schalk Brits, who should never have found himself between two props in any front row, has decided to play third centre for Saracens. There are two beefy locks in Chris Jack and Anton van Zyl behind the front row, and there is a strong, scrumming hooker in the middle. The result is that the WP tight five are now fancied to get the better of most of their opposition in this year’s Currie Cup.

Saturday saw these guys put ears on the Bulls tight five. In the front row, Wikus Blaauw absolutely demolished Werner Kruger. Sorry, demolish implies falling down, whereas Blaauw did not allow Kruger that freedom. He lifted him, popped him, twisted him and quite plainly, just terrorised him to the point of us all having sympathy for the big man. Remember, Kruger was chosen for the Emerging Boks against the British & Irish Lions.

Inside Blaauw was Deon Fourie, who has not had much game time behind Liebenberg. At tighthead was Brok Harris, a baby-faced prop who has the potential to be a steady prop as he matures. He was up against Jaco Engels, a huge, accomplished loosehead, who was expected to make a meal of Harris.

Yet Harris matched Engels, in fact overshadowed him.

The turnaround was interesting. There are many reasons, but it is the technique of the scrum which shows the greatest improvement. For those with the luxury of PVR, view the scrums of that match in the following context. Compare the stance of the front rows before the engage, and compare Harris’s to Kruger’s.

Harris is in the genuine crouch position. We South African’s are mostly bilingual, so mastering one language is sometimes difficult. A crouch, according to the Oxford dictionary, is to bend the knees and bring the upper body forward and down. SA front rows do not do this. They, upon the crouch instruction only bend their upper torsos and the legs stay straight. Kruger did this on Saturday. Harris crouched properly, which resulted in him having far greater leverage.

This is not a scrumming lesson. Instead it is to acknowledge the man who seems to have escaped recognition for the improvement in the performance of the WP forwards, specifically the tight five.

Matthew Proudfoot, the Province forwards coach, is a big man. He was a big man when he played for Scotland. He was renowned for his scrumming ability and he is the man who has addressed the weakness of the tight five, and through basic changes in technique has helped someone like Harris to be far more effective.

When Brian Mujati arrived in the Cape, he was a technically sound prop, but his technique developed faults, something that cannot be detected by the player. It is something which is observed from the side and remedied through simple discussion and practice. Mujati’s was not remedied, and his reputation suffered. Watch him improve in the UK.

Harris has benefitted from the expertise of Proudfoot. He will develop and grow accordingly, and may yet get some respect in the scrumming department (he cannot be faulted in his general play).

Proudfoot’s involvement at Western Province has been a most positive one. He has transformed the forwards from wimps into a powerful unit. His continued involvement at the Currie Cup franchise and hopefully with the Super 14 unit will pay dividends. He is maybe the front row technical advisor the Stormers need.

He is above anything, an example for the Boks. Get a front row specialist in to help them with their technique. The game has changed. Scrums are far more important than even last year. There are more and teams often opt for a scrum to restart a game. During last Saturday’s Test, after John Smit was particularly mauled, he was seen to attempt to placate his fellow tight five members when they tried to remedy the fault, claiming it was all under control. That is a fine example of the psychological effect a bad scrum has on the team, and it should be exploited wherever possible.

A spin-off of good scrumming technique is more accurate and stable scrumming. If the body positioning is addressed, and role players enter in a stronger position, the chances of collapsing are reduced and skullduggery is then easier to identify.

Well done Matthew Proudfoot, we look forward to the Province forwards growing further in stature. Let’s see a change in attitude higher up and see a specialist front row guru being seconded to help out with the Springboks.