The Times - UK (2020-11-14)

The Scrum

6 1GG Saturday November 14 2020 | the times

Georgia may be ranked 12th in the
world and considered a Tier Two
nation — or a developing nation, to
use the more respectful vernacular —
but not in the scrum. In that grizzled
netherworld of giant necks, stubble
burn and cauliflower ears the Lelos
rival the very best in the world.
England’s pack know what is
coming at them this afternoon,
having trained twice against Georgia
in recent years. In 2018 they were
shoved all over a school playing field
in west London. Last year a fracas
broke out in front of pupils from
St Edward’s School in Oxford.
Eddie Jones said that England’s
players had taken exception to
Georgia continuing to drive over the
top after the first scrum of that
session had gone down. England’s
card is marked: Georgia will be going
after them in the set piece.
They know that destroying
England’s scrum will disrupt their
ability to attack with any fluency and
reduce the impact in the loose of
Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Will
Stuart, all of whom are ball-carriers
capable of thrusting England on to
the front foot.
If Georgia succeed, England will be
in for a tough, frustrating day at the
office. However, if England, who
pride themselves on their
scrum as one of the team’s
core foundation stones,
can get on top then
the game will open
up for them.
Rugby matches
are always won and
lost up front but
against Georgia the
battle of the dark arts is
magnified in importance.
Knowing what is coming is
one thing, stopping it quite
another and England’s front row will
be asked questions this afternoon
they may have never been posed
before in a Test match.
The dark arts are so called because
gaining ascendancy in the scrum is
about so much more than one side
pushing harder than the other. In
every scrum, the front rows engage in
a wrestle for height and angles,
micro-battles that are often
impossible to spot from the sideline
but critical to the outcome of the
scrum and potentially the match.
Think back to the World Cup final
last year. England had no platform in
that first half because their scrum was
decimated by South Africa, penalties
which earned the Springboks field
position and points, and which
shattered England physically and
mentally. It required a change in

Against Georgia the

battle of the scrum’s

dark arts is magnified

personnel, with Joe Marler coming

on, to alter the picture.

Georgia have their own style of

scrummaging and it starts before the

front rows even come together.

When the referee calls “crouch”, the

Georgian front row get low, their

backs straight. When instructed to

bind, Georgia raise their height,

looking to use the top of their heads

to try to weaken the binds of the

opposition front row.

As you can see in this example

from last year’s World Cup, Beka

Gigashvili, the Georgia tight-head

prop, has rocked Scott Sio on to his

heels. Sio, Australia’s loose-head, is

then in a weak position and cannot

regenerate in time. When the referee

called for the engagement, Gigashvili

won the race to the best position and

got low, underneath Sio.

Genge, England’s starting loose-

head, is good enough to win that

engagement battle if he can get his

set-up right, with his feet in the right

place. He and Gigashvili had a right

old battle when Leicester Tigers

played Toulon in the Heineken

Champions Cup.

Against Georgia, though, that race

for the best position on engagement

is only half the battle. Their props

are so flexible and strong through

the trunk that they are masters at

working themselves into a better

position by moving their opponents

up, down and around.

Gigashvili can get into what look

like horrible positions but he has the

strength and flexibility to still be

really effective. Marler, injured today,

is the best England have at

creating those angles

because of his extreme

upper-body strength.

England therefore

face a huge physical

challenge of retaining

their form against a

moving mass, a

combined isometric

and proprioception

exercise which is one of

the most physically draining

you can do. Genge, George and

Stuart are capable of big moments in

games in the loose and Georgia’s pack

will be looking to dull their impact

around the field by wearing them

down in the scrum.

England’s best bet is to win that

battle of speed on the engagement,

get into a comfortable position

and limit how hard Georgia make

them work.

To do that, England may have to

put up with conceding the odd free

kick early just to make sure they are

on the right side of the call. They

have to move on the S of the referee’s

“set” call.

England will also have noticed that

Mikheil Nariashvili, the Georgia

loose-head, conceded a free kick and

a penalty when it was Scotland’s put-

in during their game at Murrayfield.

The Georgian mentality, as displayed

in Oxford, is never to take a backward

step. If Nariashvili is not on top, he

will angle inwards or run up the

outside — loosen his bind, take half a

step forward and then close back in

— but he will never go backwards.

If Nariashvili does win the battle of

the shoulders, then Stuart, who is a

big, strong tight-head, will struggle to

find a way back.

In between Nariashvili and

Gigashvili is Shalva Mamukashvili,

the Leicester Tigers hooker, who is

technically brilliant but a lot smaller

and with less ballast than George.

Mamukashvili will relish trying to

make George scrummage at a height

that makes him uncomfortable.

England’s scrummaging has

improved since Matt Proudfoot joined

from the Springboks after the World

Cup. If they can secure parity in the

set piece, Georgia’s back row will stay

bound for that split-second longer

and England will have more space

in which to attack.

England will win today but Georgia

will be determined to make it an arm-

wrestle. They are good at those.

BEN KAY

THE SCRUM TACTIC

TO LOOK OUT FOR

Crouch

Bind

Set

The scrum is more than a

pushing contest, it is a battle of

height and angles. When the

referee calls “crouch”, Georgia’s

front row get into a strong,

explosive position, lower than

Australia, with their backs

parallel to the ground

Georgia played the same front

row against Australia in the World

Cup and caused them problems at

the scrum, as these pictures from

the game show

Georgia raise their height on

the second call, driving their

heads upwards to try to

weaken the binds of the

Australian front row with the

top of their heads. Beka

Gigashvili, Georgia’s tight-head

prop, has rocked his opposite

man into a weak position. Scott

Sio is back on his heels, much

higher than his hooker and

with his left leg too straight

Sio does not have time to

readjust his position. Georgia

drop their height again when

the referee calls for the packs

to engage, allowing Gigashvili

to win the battle of the

shoulders by getting under Sio,

his back once again parallel to

the ground. Sio is too

long-legged and in a weak

position

Ellis Genge

Height 6ft 1in

Weight 19st 1lb

England caps 18

Club Leicester Tigers

Position Prop

Age 25

THE SCRUM TACTIC

TO LOOK OUT FOR

C

B

Th

pu

he

re

fr

ex

A

p

Ge

ro

Cu

th

th

G t h w A t G p m S h w

Ellis Genge

Height 6ft1in

Weight 19st 1lb

England caps 18

Club Leicester Tigers

Position Prop

Age 25

HOW THE TEAMS SHAPE UP

TALLEST PLAYERS

Ben

Youngs

100

AVERAGE HEIGHT OF XV

TEAM EXPERIENCE

Ge 6ft 2in

England XV 610 caps

MOST CAPS IN XV

FORWARDS

BACKS

Eng Ge

145st 5lb

102st 3lb

136st 10lb

97st 7lb

Eng Ge

AVERAGE WEIGHT

Georgia

15st 8lb

England

16st 7lb

Eng 6ft 2in

Georgia XV 474 caps

Lasha

Khmaladze

83

England

Billy Vunipola 19st 12lb

Georgia

Mikheil Nariashvili 18st 8lb

6ft 6in 6ft 6in

Charlie

Ewels

England

Lasha

Jaiani

Georgia

Ben Kay’s complete guide to

31

Games for Georgia against

Tier One teams — they have

only won one of them,

against Japan in 2014