Why is the scrum an issue in this match?
England and Australia have history when it comes to arguments over the scrum. The buildup to their pool match in last year’s World Cup was dominated by Australian accusations that Joe Marler, England’s loosehead, angles in illegally on the tighthead. In a series of articles and counter-articles, which continued after the match, one commentator would authoritatively explain with stills why Marler’s angles were illegal, only for another to use the same scrums to demonstrate how the problem was the opposition. And so on.
Then, in the summer series, it was Dan Cole’s angles, on the other side of the scrum, that Australia objected to. For this Test, Eddie Jones has got his retaliation in first, pronouncing after the Argentina Test that Australia’s scrum is illegal, shortly followed by more finger-pointing at Cole from Michael Cheika, the Australia coach suggesting he has scrummaged illegally for the entirety of his nine-year career. Cue various indignant Englishmen insisting otherwise. And so on and on.
Is Dan Cole an illegal scrummager?
He is a tighthead, and therefore operating in just about the most thankless position on the field, where his raison d’être is to be outnumbered at the scrum. Before him, England’s most celebrated scrummaging tighthead was Jeff Probyn. “Like all props, Cole will cheat if he gets the chance,” he says. “But he’s not overtly illegal and he’s not the worst.” Probyn explains some scenarios in which a tighthead will turn inwards. 1) His loosehead breaks off and his hooker pulls away. 2) The opposition loosehead dominates him and he tries to stay where he is. 3) He dominates the loosehead, whereupon the loosehead slips up the side of him. In other words, dominate or be dominated, the tighthead will tend to turn in.
“But Cole stands with both feet back. Normally, if you’re trying to turn inwards, you put one foot forward.” When 16 gargantuan men start pushing against each other, a certain amount of twisting is inevitable, but the desired outcome is a scrum that goes forward. England’s has not been doing that so reliably this autumn.
Why has England’s scrum struggled?
That Jones initiated the war of words this time tells its own story. England have had their scrummaging wobbles against all three opponents, culminating in Cole’s yellow card at the end of the first half against Argentina. But Probyn is not so sure Cole was the problem. “There is a player who has not played much club rugby, walks straight into the England team and occupies a position in the middle of the front row. As soon as Dylan Hartley was replaced by Jamie George, England dominated the scrum. Hartley isn’t as good a scrummager as George, and he’s not match fit.”
Neither, says Probyn, is Mako Vunipola as good there as Marler, although the former has many other qualities. When George and Marler came on against Argentina, England’s scrum, with Cole still in situ, started to go forward, but it should also be pointed out that Ramiro Herrera and Agustín Creevy came off for the Pumas at the same time. Likewise, England’s earlier problems coincided with the loss of Billy Vunipola’s bulk at the base.
What role does the referee play?
Too much. Not that it’s his fault, particularly. It is often suggested that front-row forwards are the only people who should referee the scrum, but the implication of that idea is that they’re the only ones who know the truth, which means they should all agree with each other – and they don’t. Certainly, referees, for all their hours of tuition in the subject, are doing little more than guessing. But in real time events take place too quickly for anyone, expert front-row forward or not, to be sure.
Are these just media mind games?
Basically. Both teams go into this game with question marks over this set piece. There are fewer scrums these days than in Probyn’s but the pressure on each has increased and not just from a physical point of view. Coaches know that an unfortunate slip and/or a referee’s guess can be the difference between winning and losing. No wonder they get jumpy when the propaganda war starts. The scrum is unfathomable and sometimes brutally unfair, which is why it retains such legendary status in rugby’s firmament.
