Jeff Probyn: Dan Cole Can help get nudge on up front

As preparation for a World Cup begins, every coach will be ascertaining they have the basic fundamentals of the game correct and the most fundamental of all is the scrum.
What all teams require is a solid base from where they can launch both attack and defence and that starts with the front row.
Looking at the leading team’s key players, the South African trio of Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira, Bismark du plessis and his brother Jannie du Plessis, these are probably one of the most powerful front rows in the Cup, while New Zealand, with Tony Woodcock, Dane Coles and Owen Franks are the most experienced.
In between there are the Australians with James Slipper, Steven Moore and Greg Holmes. England has a probable front row of, Joe Marler, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole (with either Mako Vunipola or Alex Corbisiero on bench), Argentina with Marcos Avyerza, Agustin Creevy and Ramiro Herrera, Wales, Gethin Jenkins, Richard Hibbard and Samson Lee, Ireland, Cian Healy, Rory Best and Mike Ross and finally Scotland with Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and Ryan Grant.
Of the rest, it will probably be that Fiji’s Anthony Perenise, Sunia Koto Vuli and Manasa Saulo and Samoa’s Zak Taulafo, Ole Avei and Cencus Johnston could help create the biggest upsets.
As a former front row looking at where I would want to attack each scrum, you have look and identify any weakness, no matter how small.
Playing the formidable South Africans, the player you would attack is ‘The Beast’ because although he did a job on our ‘Raging Bull’ (Phil Vickery) when Adam Jones was substituted on, his better technique demolished Mtawarira and exposed a number of failings in his style.
Mtawarira likes to attack at an angle but in doing so, exposes his hooker which allows a good tighthead to cause a split and weaken the whole scrum.
As the most experienced  (and oldest) a fast game could compromise the New Zealand scrum as the two props become fatigued while Australia, despite their efforts are, with the exception of Steven Moore, still a long way off of being an International class.
The Argentinians will be good in the scrum but unfortunately for them the rest of the team will not match their dominance.
Wales will miss Adam Jones badly and will be hoping that Samson Lee recovers from his injuries but even so, the weakness of Gethin Jenkins on the loose-head side could be the Welsh downfall. Despite being one of the best props in open play his scrummage is very poor, constantly collapsing when under pressure. Unfortunately for Gethin his time at Toulon exposed his weakness in the scrum and led to him spending most of his time in France on the bench.                                                    For Wales to have any chance of prospering they will need Richard Hibbard at hooker to help Jenkins.
Ireland has a competent front row although not the strongest, are capable, as long as they are not caught up in a hard scrummaging game, they should survive.
Scotland’s front row will have a major say in whether they qualify from their group or not.          With South Africa and Samoa as the main rivals in their group it is probable that the Samoa game will decide Scotland’s fate and how Dickinson and Grant deal with Ole Avei and Cencus Johnston come scrum time could make all the difference.
With everybody back from injury, England can field their first choice props in Joe Marler and Dan Cole, both of whom have continued to improve not only their field play but also at the set-piece.
Cole has an incredible work rate and has improved his technique to a level where he is now recognised as one of the best tight-heads in the world.
With a back-up of Dave Wilson at tight-head plus I would think a fit Alex Corbisiero on the loose, England will have the strength in depth to face all challengers.
It is tough on Mako Vunipola but he is like all the Island props that base their scrum on shear bulk and as he has got fitter and lost weight, his scrummaging has suffered, even if his field play has improved.
England’ only weakness is at hooker where Tom Youngs still struggles to do a hookers basic jobs – throw straight at the line-out and hook the ball in the scrum, much as I hate to say it, England will miss Hartley.
I have left France to last because on paper they haven’t got a chance, they have played so badly and their moral must be rock bottom – but I have never played against a bad French front row.           Despite everything, they will provide their backs with enough good ball and with Uini Atonio, Eddy Ben Arous, Xavier Chiocci, Vincent Debaty, Nicolas Mas and Rabah Slimani to choose from, it would be a brave man who underestimates them.
The front row battles will be epic but sadly it won’t come down to skill of the players, the team that wins will be the one that can keep the man in the middle with the whistle on their side.