Scrum duo show up well to give Townsend a crumb of comfort
CIAN HEALY has 96 caps for Ireland and could well reach his century by the end of this Six Nations Championship. Safe to say, the veteran prop has seen it all before. On the other side of the Irish scrum is Tadhg Furlong, another warrior whose 42 caps make for a combined total of 138 and another beast of a man who has crushed all manner of opponents over the years.
Together, they have been the cornerstone of the Irish scrum. But there were times in yesterday’s clash in Dublin when they looked just a little rumbled and rattled.
Scotland’s new-look heavyweight tag-team up front — Zander Fagerson and Rory Sutherland — put in one hell of a shift.
Healy and Furlong are both fullyfledged British and Irish Lions, but it was the Scottish duo who showed their teeth as they caused all sorts of problems at the set-piece.
The time has surely come for Fagerson to nail down the tighthead jersey given that WP Nel will turn 34 in April. This was confirmation of a talent which many have spoken of for years now at Scotstoun.
He has been absolutely colossal for Glasgow Warriors this season. Arguably the club’s Player of the Year so far, he continued that form into the Test arena yesterday.
For Sutherland, meanwhile, this was a performance which offered enough to suggest he could be the answer to some long-term problems at loosehead, provided he stays fit.
‘The scrum was excellent,’ said head coach Gregor Townsend, despite a result which ultimately extended the Scots’ winless run in Dublin to 10 years.
‘I don’t think anyone will have predicted the scrum going as well for the men in blue.
‘With Rory Sutherland not playing many games for Edinburgh this season and having not played for Scotland for four years, up against a very good player (Furlong) who is a British Lion.
‘Cian Healy on the other side is an excellent player and we certainly caused them a lot of trouble, so credit goes to the players and to Pieter de Villiers our new scrum coach.
‘Line-out maul defence was very good at times, and that’s Danny Wilson’s work in that area. It got us a foothold in the game.’
It was a bittersweet experience for Sutherland at a venue where he made his Test debut for Scotland back in 2016.
But he also paid tribute to the work of De Villiers, the former
France prop who has been drafted in to offer his experience and knowledge to the Scottish scrum.
‘Pieter hasn’t tried to totally change the system,’ said Sutherland. ‘We’re just stripping it back to the bare bones and working on the little things.
‘It was about fine-tuning and I think it worked really well for us.
‘He has been brilliant in the way he has worked with us. The three of us have really bonded as a pack — me, Zander and Fraser (Brown).
‘I’ve had a bad couple of years and haven’t had much luck with injuries, so I’m proud to be back in the team.
‘I’ve really enjoyed working with the coaching staff over the past couple of weeks.
‘On a personal level, it’s bittersweet for me. It was great to be back playing at this level again, but obviously the result is a disappointment.
‘My body feels fresh and I feel ready to take this opportunity that has been given to me.’
With a Calcutta Cup clash on the horizon next week, Sutherland admits that the Scot will have to tidy up some of their ill-disciplined work at the breakdown.
As a fellow Hawick man and someone who played school rugby with Stuart Hogg, he was full of sympathy for the new captain.
It would be a stretch, though, to think that Hogg made that kind of mistake even as a youngster, despite branding it a ‘schoolboy error’.
‘We said in the changing room, Gregor has come in and we’ve been very positive,’ added Edinburgh prop Sutherland. ‘We don’t feel the scoreline reflected how the game went.
‘The breakdown will have to be an area we work on for next week and I’m sure we’ll do that.
‘I went up to Hoggy and reassured him that these things happen. It’s just a mistake — we all make them.
‘We’ll get together on Monday and make sure we get ready for England because we know how big a game that’s going to be.’