Canes, Reds ready for set-piece battle
‘‘When you’ve got a backline from Jesus’’ making a meal of scrum time is the last thing the Hurricanes want to do.
That’s the Reds’ trick, anyway.
Statistics can often be useless but - courtesy of Hurricanes’ scrum coach Dan Cron - here’s a few that highlight what the team can expect at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
The Reds were awarded ‘‘over 40 penalties’’ from scrums during the 2016 Super Rugby season. Cron thinks ‘‘we got four.’’ This season the Reds have already received ‘‘over 10 penalties’’ from scrums.
There’s a simple, effective method at play.
‘‘They’ve got a very big hit, they’re very strong, they keep the ball in for a long time. [The] average scrum [in Super Rugby] is about seven seconds; I think they’ve had one up to about 20,’’ Cron said.
Scrums might figure prominently in any list of fan gripes about rugby, but they certainly enthuse Cron. They were also critical to the Hurricanes’ title charge in 2016.
‘‘It’s our best attacking ball. We scored 18 tries last year off scrums,’’ said Cron.
‘‘With us, it’s just vital we get the ball in and out and into [Beauden] Barrett’s hands.’’
So as boring as it probably sounds to some, Saturday’s setpiece battle will play a significant role in the end result.
In ideal circumstances, the Hurricanes try to push the opposition off their own ball. Failing that, it’s about causing the other scrum to ’’collapse or angle or do something to get away from our power; then you rely on the referee,’’ Cron said.
When it comes to the Reds, history suggests that not only are they too strong for that, referees are inclined to look favourably upon them too.
‘‘Keeping the ball in the scrum for long periods is one of their big attacking weapons; they’ve scored eight tries off scrums [this season],’’ said Cron.
‘‘For us, it might not be so much about trying to turn the ball over this week, but just trying to limit their drive forwards so they don’t get penalties, which leads to a lineout.
‘‘Our goal at the very minimum is the scrum stays stable and the ref tells them to use it.’’
The continued absence of looseheads Reggie Goodes (concussion) and Loni Uhila (calf) has limited what the Hurricanes have been able to achieve at scrum time.
Uhila might be back in a fortnight, but Goodes is out indefinitely, meaning the versatility of Chris Eves and Ben May has been called into play.
The pair tend to be happier on the tighthead side, but have done a manful job in a Hurricanes scrum that has lost its own put-in just once this season.
That was when a sinbinning reduced them to seven men against the Chiefs.
Provided the Hurricanes can keep all eight forwards on the park against the Reds, the scrummaging goal on their feed will be the same as it always is.
‘‘When you’ve got a backline from Jesus - scrum-wise - we’re trying to get the ball in and out as much as we can,’’ Cron said.