‘At a scrum, being a prop is like being squeezed in a vice’

Furlong and Franks will play a key but unglamorous role in the final Test tomorrow, writes

It takes only a quick scroll through social media to recognise which All Blacks are considered most marketable by the side’s sponsors.

Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith and captain Kieran Read are the current golden boys of world rugby’s No1 Test side, yet there is one man in black whose achievements are decidedly out of step with his profile.

Owen Franks has 93 Test caps and two Rugby World Cup medals to his name, and will play a key role in deciding the momentum of Heave-ho: The opposition scrums pack down during the first Test at Eden Park tomorrow’s series decider against the British and Irish Lions. Yet you would be hard pressed to find billboards plastered with Franks’ craggy features. Even his Lions counterpart at prop, Tadhg Furlong (pictured below), is more visible thanks to the “Sherman Tank” nickname bestowed on him by the Kiwi media.

So, why such a discrepancy? Perhaps it is because the work of the front row and the tighthead is less visible and more mysterious to the casual rugby fan than that of their team-mates further back in the pack and out in the backline.

Furlong’s mentor, the recently retired 61-cap Ireland veteran tighthead Mike Ross, knows all about being in what he describes as the “cornerstone of the scrum”. Indeed, when he describes the battle between the tighthead and the opposing loosehead and hooker, his background as a science graduate shows.

“Think of it like a suspension bridge,” he says, by way of explanation.

“The tight head pushes down and the loose head pushes up, so that is how it works.

“The tight head will have to push down to keep the loose head down and also resist the hooker coming at his left shoulder. So, he has to be like an anchor in the ground, stopping anything from disrupting the ball. When the hooker on his side strikes, the pressure comes off, so the scrum is extra vulnerable then. So, that is when he really earns his money.”

If that is the science of the tighthead, what is the mentality?

Ross believes that tenacity has helped bring his former pupil to the pinnacle of world rugby.

“Tadhg is a stubborn fellow, even if he had a bad day, he would come back looking for more,” he says. “He wouldn’t be the type to say: ‘Screw it, this is too hard, I’m not doing this any more.’

“You have to hang on in there in the scrum for long periods of time under a lot of pressure and you have to be able to stand up against it and say, ‘I’m not moving, in fact I’m going to go forward here’.”

With a chuckle, he adds: “He has a good nasty streak in him at times too, which also helps!”

Ross also emphasises the morale boost the tighthead and his front-row colleagues will feel when they are coming out on top.

“It can be quite psychological because if you have got the upper hand in that, you will be looking forward to scrums and their pack won’t be. So, if you’re going into the scrum and you get a penalty every time, the opposition will be thinking, ‘Ah, s---, here we go again’, then, on the other hand, it really gives your team a lift.”

Former New Zealand hooker Andrew Hore was known to enjoy sledging front-row opponents. However, do not expect Furlong to be bringing the banter to Joe Moody, Codie Taylor and Franks. “He will be silent,” says Ross. “I would have kind have been the same way, my philosophy is if you have breath to talk you should be pushing harder. Why would you want to give a guy extra motivation? I never really understood that. What is the point in talking s--- to someone?”

If you are watching from the comfort of your sofa tomorrow, spare a thought for the physical toll on Furlong and Franks, as Ross provides a vivid description. “You will feel pressure, a lot of pressure. It is like you have stuck your body into a vice, you have got five very strong men pushing behind you and you have three very strong men pushing in front of you, so it is kind of like being squeezed in a big vice.”