If you don’t like scrums, watch Rugby League!
With the new Aviva Premiership just five days away, it’s good to hear directors of rugby fighting back against the game’s ‘enemy within’, the voices that denigrate the scrum at every opportunity.
At the season’s launch, Rob Baxter of the champions, Exeter Chiefs, and Nick Kennedy of newlypromoted London Irish, both spoke eloquently about the importance of the set-piece.
Those who perpetually bang on about how boring scrums are, argue that getting the ball in and quickly out will lead to more open play and more tries being scored – I sometimes want to scream at the television, just go and watch Rugby League if you don’t like it!
Baxter is one of those people who, when he speaks about the game, should be listened to carefully – his track record with the Chiefs is an impeccable one, and that didn’t happen through luck or by accident.
He didn’t hold back when asked about the importance of the scrum, making the point that it’s a soft target for critics who complain about resets, but who miss the wider point.
“Some people argue that getting the ball in and out of the scrum quickly will lead to more rugby being played, but you need to be careful,” he said.
“If you depower the scrum so that it becomes less of a physical battle, and less tiring and challenging for the people involved, then you’re eventually going to have 15 less tired, and probably more athletic, players defending. So, getting the ball out of the scrum quickly won’t lead to more tries, but to an even stronger defensive battle, and potentially fewer tries.
“Ensuring that the scrum remains a physical contest leads to players tiring, and that is what creates space, which in turn leads to tries being scored. The more of a battle the scrum is, the bigger the physical specimens will be, and that in itself creates mismatches, and that means more attacking opportunities.
“If we want to talk about changing the scrum, it shouldn’t be at the expense of those big guys who are different to everyone else, and who by nature have different characters – we don’t want to lose them.You really don’t want to have 15 back-row forwards defending!”
Nick Kennedy made the point about rugby being a game for all shapes and sizes, and although that has become something of a cliché, it hides a serious point. “From an early age it’s a game for everyone, and that’s what’s so brilliant – as we come back up into the Premiership, we’ve started with our tight five and our set-piece, and that’s at the heart of the game,” he said.
With coaches staunchly defending the scrum, and the promise of straight feeds to come – although don’t hold your breath on that one – we have to be hopeful that the siren voices damaging the game will finally be silenced.
When it comes to who will win the Premiership, this is the time for optimism, with everyone talking a good game, but I suspect that reality will strike pretty soon.
It is the most competitive of leagues, and every team can beat any other, but the cream will rise to the top.
Exeter Chiefs’ Rob Baxter says that, even as coach of the reigning champions, relegation still preys on his mind, andthat he goes into the new season knowing his team will lose matches, but that what’s important is the way that the losses and the wins are treated.
The defeats aren’t treated as disasters, and after wins the trick is to quickly move on to the next game.
At the top, it’s hard to imagine Exeter and Sarries not being there again, although if they prioritise the Champions Cup that might damage their league prospects.
Wasps are still on an upward curve, and Leicester are a permanent top four side irrespective of any bumps they seem to encounter along the road.
Below them there are pretenders galore who might make a step up, while at the bottom it all hangs on London Irish.
They will be strong favourites to be relegated, but if they manage to win a few games, then goodness knows how the cards might fall.