Wales claim French scrum will 'cheat' and accuse Ireland's Furlong of getting away with it in round two
Wales prop Wyn Jones is prepared for a French scrum that will “hit and chase and cheat” when the countries meet in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash.
Jones has not held back in his assessment as France target a first Six Nations win on Welsh soil since 2010. Asked about the French pack, 24 times-capped Scarlets loosehead Jones said: “They’ll be a big pack, but probably ill-disciplined with that, especially at scrum time.
“We know they will hit and chase and cheat. That’s something we are fully aware of and something we have got to combat on the day. They will look to push early, they will look to mess about at scrum time. That’s something we’ve looked at. We will just concentrate on ourselves.”
Asked for his general view on scrums, Jones added: “In any aspect of the game, all you want is consistency, and maybe some calls are frustrating, but you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you. The scrum is constantly evolving. I think we’re all on the same page – that’s the main thing.
“We just keep evolving our scrum. We show positive pictures. That’s the kind of scrum we want. We want to be positive, a ‘no cheating’ mentality.”
(Continue reading below…)
Wayne Pivac and Alun Wyn Jones reflect on the loss to Ireland
Wales are looking to bounce back from a 24-14 round two defeat in Dublin where they feel their scrum was incorrectly penalised. Assistant coach and forwards specialist Jonathan Humphreys said: “For us, it’s a massive work in progress. We want to scrummage a certain way, paint really good pictures.
“The consistency of that has been good, but when you are dealing with tightheads who are angling across scrums, it creates problems. It creates instability. Someone like (Tadhg) Furlong (Ireland prop) is going to come right across the scrum from left to right. The laws are clear. They are very clear that you must push straight. That’s what it says.
“If people were forced to push square, you would have a pushing contest, which everybody wants. Hopefully, the referees will get harder and harder on this. I reckon, with that, you get more stability and more of a contest.”
France are riding a wave of optimism after an unbeaten start to the Guinness Six Nations… with Wales next to test their resolve, @OwainJTJones digs deep in the first part of a two-part series into the reasons behind Les Bleus' renaissancehttps://t.co/FIFhLNV8cK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 18, 2020
Wales prop Dillon Lewis was penalised at a key attacking scrum in Dublin and Humphreys added: “There comes that inconsistency for us. It’s clearly obvious that Tadhg Furlong has hammered across the scrum.
“It’s created instability from left to right, but we’ve got to deal with that. We dealt with it for most of the game, but the one scrum we had to deal with that, we didn’t and that’s our fault.”
Wales have received a double boost ahead of the Cardiff encounter against the French with Josh Adams and Dan Biggar both training fully.
Wing Adams, who has scored 10 tries in his last eight Tests, and talisman fly-half Biggar both went off during the defeat to Ireland, but they are on course to be named in head coach Wayne Pivac’s starting line-up when it is announced on Thursday.
– Press Association
WATCH: The Rugby Pod looks ahead to the round three games in the Guinness Six Nations
Comments on RugbyPass
9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to comments