TALKING POINT
The continued importance of the scrummage has been demonstrated in the attention paid to it by Australians before and during this World Cup.
It is a facet of play that has caused recurring troubles for this nation of skilled exponent of games played with ovoids, whether the sport they invented for themselves, Aussie Rules; the country’s most popular sport rugby league; or the code that generally attracts less attention domestically, but in which they were still first to become two-time world champions.
Given the rugged manliness that seems so central to Australian sporting culture it is, however, a slight curiosity that they have proven so vulnerable down the years when it comes to this most mano-a-mano and often tone-setting aspects of sport.
At the risk of generating an outcry amongst the more delusional members of the front row union their inability to regularly identify the type of squat little wrestlers who excel in these close quarter exchanges within their population, it almost invites speculation as to whether they have become victims of a culture that produces so many athletic, skilful thoroughbreds. Maybe all that sunshine and healthy, outdoorsy living is working against them.
Setting such notions apart, however, it is unquestionably the case that the set scrum has traditionally been an area of weakness for the Wallabies who have so much talent at their disposal with their mix of astute decision-makers and skilled, athletic ball carriers and winners.
Over the years they have often relied upon coming up with strategies that shift the emphasis away from scrummaging to minimise its importance.
That said throughout this year there has been evidence that the recruitment to their coaching team of Mario Ledesma, the Argentinian who was one of the key figures during an era when the Pumas were considered the best scrummagers in the world, has made a significant difference to them. So much so that their forwards were able to create a platform of sufficient solidity to let them out-manoeuvre Ledesma’s countrymen and the power-oriented South Africans, as well as the world champion All Blacks to win this season’s Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship.
However, that it remains an on-going concern has been demonstrated this week with the attention paid among their commentators not to their own scrum, but to those of England and Wales, funnily enough Australia’s next opponents in what will be Pool A’s decisive matches.
One Aussie web-site has even gone so far as to go through the scrums in last weekend’s match between the two sides dissecting in fine detail what it described as the “cheat-fest” that took place at every scrummage.
Objective analysis or cynically-timed propaganda we may wonder, since it is hard to imagine, having seen a fair bit of Argentina down the years, that the wily Ledesma is not coaching his charges in some of what are euphemistically referred to as the dark arts?
A bit of both, perhaps, but the conclusion drawn at the end of the piece in question invites another, reading: “The moral to this dirty dark tale is simple – cheating will get you a penalty in three out of four scrums with French refs! Note also the decision making involved; these teams will trade prime try scoring field positions for the chance of a scrum penalty.”
Oh, did I mention that France’s Jerome Garces having had charge of England v Wales last weekend, it is his countryman Romain Poite who has been appointed to tomorrow’s encounter?
It is, though, by no means the first time that attempts have been made in advance of big matches to apply pressure to officials and it would not continue to be done if it was not sometimes seen to have an effect.
SCOUTING REPORT
Wales claimed the win over Fiji that they needed to consolidate victory at the home of the hosts as they edged ever closer to securing their place in the quarter-finals.
Should they get there, however, there are considerable issues to be addressed, even beyond the injury problems that have understandably attracted so much attention, given the way the Fijians took them on up front.
Slightly more predictably they also carved the Welsh defence open several times and could have produced more tries than the one scored by Vereniki Goneva which, when converted by Ben Volavola, heightened tensions further by reducing the leeway to four points with 30 minutes remaining.
The mood in Cardiff had changed hugely from the first half hour when tries from Gareth Davies and Scott Baldwin, allied to Dan Biggar’s goal-kicking, looked to have put Wales on course for the bonus point that would have tilted the qualification balance even more heavily in their favour.
Instead Biggar’s boot was required to keep the Fijians at bay and secure a 23-13 win which means they will be guaranteed a quarter-final place if the Wallabies beat England.
France meanwhile maintained their undefeated record in moving inexorably towards what always looked likely to be a Pool D decider against Ireland.
They, too, made heavy weather of it for a while after looking like they could cruise to a bonus point when tries from Wesley Fofana and Guilhem Guirado, allied to three successful kicks from Freddie Michalak as he became his country’s record points scorer at World Cups, took them 17 points clear.
It would hardly be France if they did not then let their opponents back into the game, however, tries from ex-Glasgow Warrior DTH van der Merwe and Aaron Carpenter bringing Canada within range.
However Michalak’s boot kept them clear before a Pascal Pape try made it safe and Remy Grosso marked his debut by scoring the bonus point securing try.
GOOD DAY
For the England physios who did the hard work in giving their team a badly needed double boost ahead of tomorrow’s do-or-die meeting with Australia at Twickenham.
For all that it can hardly be seen as the department in which the game was lost, since they were winning when the starting midfield unit was on the pitch, there is no question that the management was thrown by the chest injury suffered by Jonathan Joseph which ruled him out of the meeting with Wales and the controversy about the re-shuffle that was required did them no favours, so the centre’s return allows them to return to their preferred structure.
Another huge problem which happened during Saturday’s match was the withdrawal of Ben Youngs, their scrum-half, who had been the most influential figure on the field in the opening half hour before picking up the ankle injury which ruled him out of the second half, so it was also vital that if at all possible he was cleared to play this week.
Little wonder that Stuart Lancaster, England’s head coach, looked a little happier than he has for a few days as he discussed his team selection yesterday.
BAD DAY
For the healthy living brigade as it was announced that Hiteshi Ono, the far from clean living (according to his head coach Eddie Jones) veteran Japanese lock will extend one record and set another after being included in their side for what could yet prove to be a key meeting with Samoa.
“It’s going to be his 96th cap which is an unbelievable achievement and he’s going to achieve his 96th cap as the oldest guy to play for Japan. He takes that record off the previous Toshiba half-back (Wataru) Murata. There must be something in those microchips at Toshiba,” joked Eddie Jones, the Japan head coach.
“He’s an incredibly tough player and that is why he’s picked. If you want a strong child make sure they get brought up on a dairy farm, deliver the papers every morning, drink 10 beers a night. You should do a documentary on longevity – milk, newspapers and beer.”
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