Tahs looking for scrum improvement
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When Waratahs head coach Michael Cheika labelled the Reds scrum as "outstanding" this week, the praise surely must have stung his forward pack.
And notwithstanding Cheika's sincerity with the remark, that is what he would have hoped for as the Waratahs began their preparations for next Saturday's semifinal in Sydney.
The scrum, along with their line-out, was a major focus of the Waratahs training sessions from Tuesday to Friday this last week before enjoying the weekend off – by earning a home semifinal, they avoided Saturday's qualifying finals.
And by all accounts, Cheika's earlier remark on the Reds scrum hit the mark, with the Waratahs forwards recognising that their scrum must attain dominance from the start of a game, rather than be content to work into a position of control as it progresses.
Asked what he thought of Cheika's plaudits for the Reds scrum following the Waratahs' 31-5 Round 18 victory over them in Sydney last Saturday, tighthead prop Sekope Kepu said: "Credit due where it is due.
"They scrummaged well starting off in the game. They picked their moments.
"I felt we worked our way back into the game, but it's not good enough for a pack like ours.
"For the experience we've got we have got to be smarter, be up for it from the start and [be] more proactive than reactive."
However, Kepu believes the challenge by the Reds pack was timely heading into the knock-out stages of the tournament.
"I guess it was a perfect game for us … the week before [against the Cheetahs] we had an attacking game and [against the Reds] we defended for 60 minutes or something," Kepu said.
"Moving forward that has kind of balanced up everything."
Waratahs flank Stephen Hoiles said that while the Waratahs have done well to reach the semifinals, continued "inconsistency" in their scrum will be costly from now on.
"The common theme of our scrum overall is that it has been a little bit inconsistent," Hoiles said.
"We generally tend to finish a lot of games really well with scrummaging.
"It probably takes us a couple of scrums to get our rhythm each game, but [this week] it's probably been the focus for us – to try and set a platform early and be the initiator.
"We have been on the back foot a little bit early in games with our scrummaging and then, 'bang' … we just sort of click into gear after one or two scrums."
However, with so much at stake in a semifinal, Hoiles said the four teams who qualify must prepare for all areas of the game.
Hence, Hoiles said, the Waratahs forwards also worked on their line-out mauling in attack and defence on Friday.
"You are generally playing sides that don't have a weakness in any part of the game," Hoiles said.
"So you can't rule out anything … you can't say, 'There won't be any rolling mauls next week because that side isn't strong in it.'
"Any side in the top four basically doesn't have a weakness. So you have got to presume to come across all aspects of the game."
While not having to play the qualifying finals provides the Waratahs with a welcomed rest and chance to address any niggling injuries, it has also helped the defending Super Rugby champions to focus on their game.
By not knowing who they would play next Saturday, they had no choice but to think only of themselves."It is a cliché to say it, but it is just about our team and ourselves getting our set piece right and getting ourselves into good space for that," Hoiles said.
"It is the professional era and especially in the last five or 10 years of that professional era there has been this big focus on analysis and wot not …
"But I have enjoyed the week, to not have to worry about that and just train and have a good hit out at a few sessions."
The Canberra Times
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