Spines in Line - by Steve Moore

The most powerful display in sport explained by Steve Moore

The clatter of bodies is signalled by a dull grunt. The blood rushes straight to the head and one is oblivious to all else other than the two tonnes of weight crashing into each other. No its not a car accident, it’s the intial stages of a rugby scrum. This highly specialised area of the game has become a vital cog in the wheel of any successful team, and its highly evolving nature makes it a large part of preparations for a test match. Scrums nowadays are as great a contest for possession as they ever were, and the Wallabies have worked in earnest to continually improve this facet of the game. This is an insight into the teams scrum preparation for a game at the Rugby World Cup 2007.

The Scrum gets a bad rap among ladies and the drifting supporter. Sure it looks impressive and lets the backs get a sweet opportunity to atatck from but what most onlookers don’t realise is that the scrum is crucial for almost all phases ensuing. A powerful scrum, usually led by a dominant tight head, can isolate the opposition back row and give a good attack a superior attacking platform. The 1st phase battle can have a huge bearing on the outcome if the test and that is why it is such a pivitol part of the teams preparation.

The seed is sown very early in the week with hours of analysis going into forging a plan for the week ahead. A typical week will start with all of the front rowers analysing video clips of opposition scrums. It’s astounding the role that video has played in the modern game. Its now possible for us to break down opposition footage frame by frame in our analysis. Footage comes in from all corners of the globe. Be it Heinekin Cup, Six Nations, Tri-Nations or Super 14, any match played anywhere ends up at our fingers tip on the laptops. This footage allows us and the coaches to come up with a plan for the weekends game, identifying strenghts and weaknesses of the team we are facing.

Hours will be spent throughout the week drilling against each other with our plan for the weekend in mind. We will scrummage on the machine and in a live situation, all aimed at simulating the conditions we expect to face at the weekend. Usually this will occur early in the week. These sessions are known to get quite fiery. Hightenened emotions and buckets of testosterone contributing to what some might say are harder circumstances than those experienced in a game. The days later in the week are usually used for recovery and treatment, with most of the boys pretty fatigued and beaten up after the taxing sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. By Friday everyone is primed and the preparation is complete. Small meetings to tie up any loose ends round out the weeks prep.

So there you have it. Whilst there may only be 10 scrums or so in a game, a far greater amount of time is spent in the week prior to make sure that when we step over that line we are ready to fire. With the likes of Carl Hayman, Os Du Randt and co at the ready, nothing is left to chance.