Puma shows Tahs the way
Former Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma has helped the Waratahs improve their scrumming ability by getting them to scrum as a pack, although there is still plenty of improvement to be made.
Tighthead prop Sekope Kepu said that the challenge of using the scrum as a weapon without earning the referee's ire is possible and that the Waratahs scrum is not yet a finished product.
"We are definitely a work in progress and Mario [Ledesma] has been great for us. We are building slowly and are trying to keep the referee out of it and eliminate those 50-50 calls that he has to make.
"The main thing he [Ledesma] brings is just basically scrumming as an eight – as a pack – as opposed to trying to do your own thing and wrestle.
"That is what Mario is all about – scrumming as an eight. If we can do that, it keeps the referee out and definitely shows who's trying to manipulate the scrum and so on.
"If you can work as an eight, and stay under pressure and not be selfish, you will get results. Look at the Pumas scrum and the way they scrum. It is something we aspire to try and be like. It is something we've been working on over the pre-season.
"We've done a lot of work in pre-season, double days with scrums just to build that mentality and attitude that we have never done in the past.
"It's all about getting the most out of our forward pack and making the back five understand. They have come to learn over the pre-season how important scrums are," Kepu said.
Ledesma who played 84 Tests for Argentina, is familiar with what Waratahs coach Michael Cheika wants – having worked with him at Stade Francais in 2011 – joined the Waratahs as an observer from Europe where he was the forwards coach at Stade Francais (2011-2012) and Montpellier (2012-2014).
The Waratahs' South African back row forward Jacques Potgieter, who played his first season with the Super Rugby champions last year, has also been impressed by Ledesma's impact on the scrum.
"He is very good. Australian teams, they weren't big on scrumming, mauling, packing, driving and all those things.
"Aussies used to be a very attacking team playing rugby, and now just bringing that in [having the scrum as an attacking weapon] rounds the team off a lot more. The South African teams and the Kiwi teams, they don't expect that.
"So it's just an edge for us, as another attacking weapon we can use," Potgieter said.
