The Rugby Club finds out if the percieved weakness of the Wallaby scrum is fact or fiction.
A front row myth?
The Rugby Club finds out if the weakness of the Wallaby scrum is fact or fiction.
The scrum is supposed to be the cornerstone of any rugby team; however mention the Wallaby front-row and words like feeble, weak and fragile seem to be the general consensus.
The last time Australia were at Twickenham was in 2005 where the game resulted in uncontested scrums after Sheridan and co decimated the Wallaby front row. First Al Baxter was sent to the sinbin for collapsing the scrum and then matt Dunning was stretchered off.
England smashed them up front again in the World Cup quarter-final win in 2007, however Australia assistant coach Jim Williams says that to call the wallaby front row weak is wrong.
Fronting up
"It is a myth, without a shadow of a doubt, big Jim Williams told
The Rugby Club.
"Michael Foley has done a fantastic job with those guys, they have had to cop a lot but they have worked very hard to improve."
Foley is a former Wallaby hooker who knows a thing or two about front row tactics and cut his coaching teeth as forwards coach for Premiership side Bath. Foley agrees that Australia had a bad day the last time they were at Twickenham, and also admits that perhaps they have not worked as hard on the scrum as they should have.
"It goes back to 2005 at Twickenham where we had such a bad day in the scrum, Foley told The Rugby Club.
"I think that was a watershed moment where people said this really is an issue. But if you go back a bit further than that I think you will see that there were issues in the World Cup previously when Australia played England in the final and Andre Watson was put under the microscope for not sanctioning the Australian scrum more heavily.
"We have always tried to play a very expansive game, a very ball in the hand game. So perhaps some of the traditional elements of our technical play game, particularly in the forwards has been neglected."
Baxter ready to bounce back
Al Baxter is the back for another shot at Sheridan and while most of the press surrounding his practicing of the dark arts is negative, Baxter is rather chuffed to be receiving some press coverage.
"I quite enjoyed it, it was the most press I have ever got in my life," joked Baxter.
"I am getting a bit of coverage, usually I am in the background and it is the Matt Giteaus and the Stirling Mortlocks who get all the press. It is quite nice getting talked about even though it is not great!"
Baxter also reveals that the coaching set-up in the wallaby camp has changed dramatically from when he first started - especially up in the forwards.
"Previously we didn't actually have a full time scrum coach," admitted Baxter who will win his 62nd cap against England on Saturday.
"We had a physio who did a bit of scrummaging work - he was an ex-wallaby but his primary job was as the head physio. In his spare time he did some scrummaging stuff. That shows how much focus was put on it. Now it is given the weight that it should."
Taming the beast
Baxter is Australia's most capped prop and Foley disagrees that he has been capped so many times because there was no one else.
"I think he has graduated to being up there, said Foley. "There were definitely periods in his career where he was trying to find his feet.
"I feel for Al because he was put in that position without a lot of guidance. Australian rugby did not provide the guidance for young front rowers and Al and a number of other guys were asked to do a job without anyone really supporting them. What he is, is someone who has graduated from the school of hard knocks and certainly so far this season against very good opponents he has been able to aim up.
"Playing this week against Andrew Sheridan is going to be the real litmus test. Andrew is probably the premier loose head in the world in terms of as scrummgaing which means that Al is going to be faced with that challenge and he has to answer it."
