The Guru and The Scrum
Wed, 24 Aug 2005 20:55
Coaching wisdom
There has been lots of talk about scrumming recently, what with the Lions' tour and the Tri-Nations. Here our Guru, the wisest coach in Rugbydom, tells how to do it.
I tell my front row to take up their pre-scrum position in a crouched position, as though they are sitting on a lavatory seat. Feet are under shoulders, hooker in similar position, locks down and flanks get down with the locks, very tight on the get down. Feet are parallel to the touch (and facing the goal line) unless you are trying to prevent a wheel and want a strong right shoulder in which case right foot slightly ahead of left foot and tighthead prop a little ahead of hooker and even more ahead of loosehead (more about that later).
But back on the straight scrum. The front row crouch as described, all feet slightly more than shoulder width apart. On the "Engage" the props and hooker who have been looking up into the faces or upper chests of their opponents come in hard and from underneath into the upper chests of their opponents.
The whole side comes in strong on this "hit" so the opponents ideally move back a little on contact. No foot in the scrum should move from its starting position. The way your feet are before you actually engage is the way they must stay so you do not get a destabilised scrum as players try to readjust their feet. I do like my hooker to swing his right hip under his left, to extend his left leg behind him in a locked position with his foot now parallel to the goal line. Thus his hooking foot is nearer the mouth, no matter how low the opponents take him to the ground he can still strike and his straight left leg prevents his being move backwards as it acts rather like a broomstick does when it is pushed at an angle into the ground- it can't be moved and just digs deeper and deeper. I do realise that this is rather old-fashioned and fully accept that strong hookers scrum square on , as their props do- if your hooker feels he is strong enough to do that and still get his own ball (not difficult with the way the ball is put in nowadays), then go for it.
On their ball, of course, it is a must - scrum square on, both feet back unless you are going to strike for their ball.
Backs should be parallel to the ground for obvious reasons - if your back is pointing to the sky, you will scrum towards the sky just as if a scrumhalf in delivering the ball to his flyhalf does not keep his back parallel to the ground the ball he passes will go, accordingly, awry. If your back is aiming at the sky, you do not get as much forward movement as you would if it were parallel to the ground although, as a prop, you might pop your opposite prop (something I always admired at rugby - sorry it has been outlawed!).
Spines, unless you want to wheel must be parallel to one another's so that we are all moving in the same direction and not pushing counter to one another.
Scrumming is very logical. Lean against a fence or a desk and put both hands on top of it. Then move our left foot forward and see where your hips and back go - you will find you are pushing to the right.
Sometimes a hooker might complain that he has too much pressure on his left or right side from his lock and this twists his body the way he does not want it. Think carefully, and move the lock's feet accordingly, to take the pressure off or put it on where you require it. Think about wheeling a scrum and see how this simple ploy can be used effectively.
Ideally, without a wheel or without trying to prevent a wheel, everyone should scrum with feet about a shoulder width, or a little more if you have narrow shoulders, apart and with feet equidistantly back to allow the backs to be parallel to the ground and to the touchline, shoulders to the try-line.
Props' feet will be a little closer to their shoulders though spread apart as described, but if they are too much under their shoulders, their hips will be lifted by their locks and there will be no power. Locks and props (loose forwards pack down in much the same position as locks) must bend their knees or else they will plunge into the ground, locks will slide up and chaos will ensue. When locking a scrum, locks often like to straighten their knees and dig their feet into the ground. Think of pushing a stick into the ground - it is straight, therefore the harder you push the deeper it digs.
Flanks must get down with their props and with the same force as the locks. Some coaches like their flanks to pack with their inside foot behind the outside foot so that the first stride will take them out to defend rather than pulling them in to the scrum- personally, I don’t think it matters a damn.
Coaches also talk about backs aligning their feet in similar fashion so that the first pace will pull them in or
out as is desired - usually foot closest to the
touchline in front so that first pace straightens up the player. Most backs laugh at me, quite rightly, I think, when I suggest this for they argue that their shoulders take them where they go. True, as the pass determines the direction of your run!
Most props like to have the outside foot just a little in front of the inside - it does support the body somewhat although you lose a bit of pushing power. Your bum and thigh muscles are the biggest and you want to have them working at top strength.
Feet too far back for any player in the scrum make for lack of shoving power, too far forward make for bent back and downward pushing or your lock's push will lift you.
The bind is very important, but no more so than the foot positions of the players. No player in the scrum should lift his foot more than an inch off the ground for he and his scrum will be thrown backwards. A scrum advances in small steps, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
If a scrum goes up or down or even sideways, look at foot positions. If it disintegrates, especially bursting outwards, it is mostly the bind - a good bind makes up for all sorts of sins.
Another way to get down in the scrum:
There are so many theories of how to get down that I really do not know where to start. Senior players normally work out what is most effective themselves through practising together against a machine and then opponents.
Two much used methods:
1. As already described: Locks get in and flanks must get down with the props - it helps the props considerably. Front row crouches as though sitting on a lavatory seat, hips below shoulders. Feet are all in the correct position as described .
The hooker is the captain of the tight scrum and he must talk his players into scrumming readiness so that on the ref's "Engage" they are in a good position to come in, well bound, feet in the correct position and with the hit on the correct shoulder. On your ball, for example, you possibly want to stop the opponents wheeling you forward on the loosehead (left side) in order to win a re-scrum, their ball. So the front row would come down with the tighthead leading and perhaps ahead of his hooker and loosehead prop.
I'll talk about wheeling and other aspects of scrumming in the next edition.
No.8 normally looks about to see what is cooking and comes in just before the hit.
2. Same as above, the locks come in with flanks.
Props put their feet back and put all their weight on their shoulders, as it were, whereas in the first method their weight is above their feet.
The hooker is important here. He has both feet forward and is leaning back holding back his props whose weight and angles of inclination are pulling them into the scrum. The hooker here is in the position of the last man in a tug-of-war team.
His legs are bent and wide to give him the strength to hold his props, and indeed the other forwards, back. Then, as the ref gives the "Engage" hooker allows the props to fall into the scrum, coming down with them, and adjusting his feet to the most advantageous hooking position for him. The others, as in 1, should have their feet in the right position from the start.
This is a very powerful 'get-down' that I should not recommend for young teams at schoolboy level. The way the front row gets down decides upon the efficacy of your scrum on either ball.
