Revealed: The 'dark arts' of the scrum - what really happens, according to the experts

Two top-flight forwards coaches open up on rugby's most primitive facet

By Charles Richardson 18 November 2020 • 3:01pm - published in The Telegraph online

The scrum is a labyrinthine, mazy game of chess, with front-row forwards angling one way and exploding the other, looking for any advantage they can over the opposition. It can be brutal, dangerous, and often illegal.

Underhand tactics are part and parcel of the scrum, with both teams looking to push the opposition, as well as the referee, as far as they can to gain superiority in rugby’s most primitive and gladiatorial element. These underhand tactics, often referred to as the ‘dark arts’, appear at almost every scrum. But how do you spot a legal drive from an illegal one? How do you know which prop is offending and which is innocent? Ahead of one of the games that could define the autumn - England's hosting of Ireland at Twickenham, where the scrum is sure to play a key part - Telegraph Sport asked two top-flight forwards coaches to divulge all. Such is the importance of this facet to their teams, however, and such is the murkiness of this ‘dark arts’ underworld, that they have spoken only on condition of anonymity.

Tightheads

Coach A: The tighthead is effectively scrummaging against two people, that loosehead-hooker duo. It’s very obvious when a tighthead is offending because he will be angling in, to try and split the opposition hooker and loosehead. He might roll inwards, or drop his outside arm or, if he gets too long-legged - his feet are too far back - then he’s likely either to go backwards or downwards, so there’s that.

Coach B: Tighthead prop is the hardest position on the field because you’re attacked on both shoulders and you’ve got 600-odd kilos behind you, too; you’re not going anywhere. So the defensive, panicky mindset is to put both feet back. As soon as you panic and put your feet back as a tighthead prop, if you think you’re being attacked, then you’re dead.

The art to it is, when the pressure comes on, you just drop your weight - not to the floor - but you just drop as if you’re doing a squat in the gym, and lower your core.

In their Six Nations loss to France in February, if you remember, Wales were upset with the referee at the end of the game but Demba Bamba in that scrum, for me, did nothing wrong. He split Rob Evans and his hooker apart by staying square.

As a tighthead prop hits and stays square, if they do damage, the loosehead’s hips might go out, which could make it look like the tighthead is on an angle but, for me, Bamba hit, went straight, and that loosehead-hooker seam just evaporated and opened up (as shown below).

Looseheads

Coach A: With the loosehead, it’s all about the direction of their hips. They have to push straight. The loosehead and the hooker work in tandem and, if the loosehead’s hips come away from the hooker’s, and they’re moving forward, it becomes obvious that they're not pushing straight.

Coach B: A loosehead has to stay square and make it obvious for the referee. They are stronger than the tighthead when they are hip-to-hip with their hooker - it’s literally two versus one. If you kick your hips out as a loosehead and follow the tighthead in, you’re weak. A lot of looseheads will do that too early - as soon as they feel the tighthead move across - and then if the tighthead suddenly squares up, a loosehead will just get spat out.

The last time England played Ireland, back in February, towards the end of the second half, Ellis Genge was square and straight, and Andrew Porter eventually turns, and Genge follows him inwards. The cause was Porter not taking the pressure and he was fairly penalised (as shown below).

But there was another scrum on halfway (shown below) where Genge hits and his hips go out very early, and he gets penalised. That’s a fair penalty, too. You must stay square. I always talk about a battle of not moving your feet. You’re waiting for the other guy to turn in while you’re still staying straight. As soon as the opposite number turns in, you’ve got them.

Coach A: Unless you’re in there, though, feeling what’s going on, it’s difficult to judge. But as referees and coaches, you just need to have an awareness that players need to be square. And you can usually tell when their hips come out and they’re on a bit of an angle, or they’re driving up or turning in. That sort of stuff, you can still see it if you look for it.

Hinging

Coach A: When you hear about ‘hinging’, that’s more often than not the loosehead. He will struggle to collapse the scrum in the same way as a tighthead as there is less weight and pressure on him, so it is easier for him to just bend at the hips.

Coach B: There is a lot of hinging going on with looseheads. They are coached to keep their elbow up, so if it’s not a great engagement or the tighthead is pulling down on you, your elbow will be the last thing to hit the deck, so that makes it harder to be penalised. There are a lot of looseheads who are sloppy with their left elbow, and they’ll hit the deck and they’ll get penalised. And rightly so.

A tighthead could hinge, but you’d be asking the same question: ‘whose elbow is highest?’ Rabah Slimani, the French tighthead, is the king of it. He won’t hinge, but he’ll hit and force his arm down on the back of the loosehead’s tricep. If you watch him, he enters the scrum sequence with his bind very high, and then he’ll hit and aim downwards with his wrist on the loosehead’s tricep - you’re not allowed to do that. As a tighthead, you have to bind on the loosehead’s lat muscle, underneath his armpit. A tighthead can con a penalty by doing that.

Early engagement

Coach B: This is often a stability, timing issue. The scrum is literally a tonne of weight - you have 650-700 kilograms behind that front-row who often cannot even hear the referee! They are often just waiting for some movement. If they get that wrong, they are going to push, and that’s when you get an early engagement. I don’t think it’s cynical.

A team pulling out of the engagement, however, really winds me up, and that has been creeping in over the last few years. Instead of advancing at the ‘set’ call, and pushing through with the hips, a team might just stop, and almost pull out. Then the other team will have a free-kick given against them for an early shove. That’s a killer.

To spot it as a referee, you have to identify both sets of hips going forward at the ‘set’ call. We do not have a massive six-inch space between the two packs like we did before 2013, but both sets of hips should advance - at least a couple of inches. Another giveaway, if it is a pre-ordained move by that team, you will see a couple of their back-rowers popping their heads up instantly, appealing to the referee. That’s a giveaway - why else would they get up so quickly?

Coach A: But it is very difficult for referees because you’re relying on your touch judge; you can’t see both sides of the scrum. Are the touch judge’s standards the same as the referee’s? It’s sometimes frustrating for coaches because of that, but I’m never going to criticise a referee for what they do because there’s so much going on in every scrum and every player - all props - is trying to gain an advantage and win a scrum penalty.

Coach B: Assistant referees are f------ deadly. They can pick up stuff given what the crowd have said behind them, or given what they think they’ve seen. I keep telling my lads: ‘It’s not about what you’re doing’, it’s about the pictures that they see.’ You have to show them good pictures, and that is square hips and high elbows.

Article added: Friday 27 August 2021