Jeff Probyn: Cips may shine but it’s the Sale scrum that matters

At last the season has begun, with much anticipation and excitement. For the players on international duty this summer, it must seem as if the action has been non-stop apart from a short break.
But for the rugby fan this Olympic summer of sport has whetted the appetite for more.
With no World Cup to hamper team preparations, a Sevens competition to help identify and hone young talent, plus the return of players from the money pots of France and beyond – this should be a season to savour.
There is the prospect of a Lions tour at the end of the season and with so many international places undecided and the Home Unions continuing to develop their squads for the 2015 World Cup there is all to play for.
In fact, the Lions and 2015 are probably the reason that some of our wanderers have come back early from their travels, particularly those English players who, for one reason or another, had a bad time under the Johnson regime.
With a new season comes a new chance of redemption and an opportunity to show that they still have something to give while trying to prove to the England management that they really have been missed by an England team, that has (in the opinion of some) failed to deliver since that night in Australia nine years ago.
For Danny Cipriani and Gavin Henson this season gives them one last chance of showing they are more than just media fodder and headline fillers for what they do off the field rather than on it.
Each has chosen a club that will face enormous challenges, Cipriani at Sale will fall under the watchful eye of Steve Diamond – not a man known for his patience but someone with a proven track record of supporting his players and expecting them to deliver for him.
As the only Premiership team in the north of England, under-achieving Sale have been completely overhauled by Diamond and bringing in Cipriani is a gamble (given he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory with the Melbourne Rebels). But if anyone can enable Cipriani to reach his huge potential it is Diamond.
Henson has the tougher task by moving to the newly-promoted Exiles who are everybody’s favourites to go straight back down.
Ruled out for between four to six weeks, he will probably return to action in a team that will already be fighting for survival as they come to terms with the step up in intensity that playing in the Premiership will bring. Personally, I think that the latest signings by London Welsh will have a bigger impact on their potential survival than the golden boy of Welsh rugby.
French duo Franck Montanella and Arthur Joly together with Romanian Paulica Ion give the Exiles a formidable front row with the ability to cause any of the Premiership sides problems if they are given the chance.
The dropping of the four-stage engagement at the scrum for an easier three-stage crouch, touch, set or engage is thought to be something that should, with any luck, help stop the farce that we have seen at the scrum engagement over the past couple of seasons.
Why the change should make that much difference is beyond me, other than it might bring a bit more consistency to the cadence of the referee’s call, allowing both packs to get the timing right.
It is a coincidence that the new refocus at the scrum has come at just the time when one of the great Argentinean/ Australian props Enrique “Topo” Rodriguez has finally completed his life’s work. Topo has spent a large part of his life since retiring from the game correlating all available information in an attempt to convince the IRB of the importance of the scrum and how its preservation is fundamental to the health of the game. He has even written a book called TAOS (The Art Of Scrummaging) and, like most front row forwards, I agree with his conclusions.
There are a number of reasons why the scrum is so important. Firstly we are all part of the Front Row Union Club, a bond that makes brothers of all who have played there no matter at what level.
Secondly, the scrum is the defining play that separates Rugby Union from any other sport (League has them but with nowhere near the same intensity).
The scrum is the only area of the game where the two teams come into direct physical contact with their opposition and can change the dynamic of the game; failure in the scrum normally leads to failure in the game.
Proof can be found in the new Rugby Championship where the demise of Australia can be directly linked to their failing scrum. In 2011 nearly a third (31 per cent) of Australian scrums resulted in infringements against them and in the rest they were under significant pressure and that has continued this year.
As a result, their back rowers were virtually tied to the scrum which left them outclassed and they were constantly on the back foot handing the opposition a major advantage in attack and at every breakdown.
It is testament to the quality of the Australian back row and backs that they have managed to win games despite being consistently out-gunned at the scrum.
As usual all the headlines this season will be about the backs but the teams that win and survive will owe it to their scrum.
The Front Row Union Club (which donates to injured players) are holding a dinner on September 20 in London, for further details contact: Louise Holland on [email protected]