Build the future on front row brilliance
NICK CAIN
READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK
THE England U20 scrum is the best in the world, and in winning the 2024 U20 World Championship by beating France in Cape Town last weekend, it shone a spotlight on just how important, and intrinsic, the scrum is to rugby union's future.
At a time in which World Rugby's misguided goal-line drop-out and free-kick law changes have attempted to shackle the influence of the scrum, and the England senior scrum's strength has shrivelled, the U20s were having none of it.
Their message that it remains a game-changing force was rammed home by an outstanding unit of new generation Red Rose front-rowers, expertly deployed by U20 forwards coach Andy Titterell, who overcame a dangerous France side convincingly by wrecking their forward platform.
Championship-winning plaudits are usually showered on talented backs or barnstorming back rowers – but this time it was the front row, and especially England's heavy-duty props, who were the heroes.
They were the drill-bit that not only shattered the French scrum, but also left the Irish, South African, Fijian, and Argentine scrums as flotsam and jetsam in their triumphant, unbeaten wake.
So, take a bow loose-heads Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale) and Cameron Miell (Leicester), as well as the tight-head trio of Billy Sela (Bath), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), and James Halliwell (Bristol), and hookers Craig Wright (Northampton), and James Isaacs (Saracens).
They brought about a Eureka moment for the English game, which was even more welcome because it should bring to an end a painful 15 years in which a dearth of consistent international-class props has undermined the senior Red Rose side from reaching its full potential.
The England U20s reminded us that footnotes about “scrum dominance” are totally inadequate in reflecting how front-row forwards who bring power, dynamism, technique, and durability to the fiercest strongman contest in the game, can influence every aspect of a match. Front-foot ball and a retreating opposition are a priceless rugby union commodity, as is the psychological impact on an entire team of its forwards being smashed backwards.
“The England U20s scrum is the best in the world. Don't waste this chance”
This young Red Rose front-row deserves its place in the sun because it did all of that, as well as providing the bedrock for a side that did not play well all the time, to come back and overhaul Argentina, South Africa, Ireland, and France. Similarities with the way the Springbok front-row earned them a second World Cup title eight months ago are unavoidable.
When it comes to assessing the attributes of front row forwards there are few better judges than Phil Keith-Roach, the scrum coach of the 2003 World Cup-winning England side.
Keith-Roach says that it is essential that this England U20 front row contingent are free of obstacles that hinder future progress – especially as he believes that Opoku-Fordjour is already an international calibre loose-head.
“Opoku-Fordjour is ready now. Straight up, bang! He's shown he's ready to be included in the England starting 23 at loose-head for the Autumn internationals. I've followed him for the last three years in the U20s, and knew quickly that I was seeing someone as exciting as Jason Leonard, who I first saw at 15, and Andrew Sheridan and Joe Marler, who I saw at 16.
“Everything he does makes him a natural loose-head. He's immovable: flat-back, very well-balanced, square in contact, and sets-up right under the tight-head's chest. What I like is that he almost always tries to drive his opponent backwards, and unsettles them with this slight upward drive – which all the great loose-heads do. You can see the ripple effect where, from the tight-head backwards, their whole scrum is unhinged.
“Leonard played for England when he was 21, and although Opoku-Fordjour is 20, young men now are much more physically developed than they were 30 years ago. If someone is good enough, you have to use them.
“It is a superb job for this U20 squad to emerge with seven front row players of high quality, and they need top standard rugby right now. They must not be put in a car park and taken out for a short drive once every few months.
“It's about how good they are, not how old. I've been concerned and disappointed with the England front row in recent years, mainly because poor scrummagers have been allowed to accumulate caps”.
This cuts the heart of an English system where RFU lip-service is given to pathways to develop players, while it fails to remove the bloody great boulders blocking their progress.
For instance, even though England's problem position at senior level is tight-head, and the U20s have three highly promising heavyweight solutions in Sela, Fasogbon, and Halliwell, they are caught in a Premiership pileup – behind, in many cases, less effective props.
Sela is behind Thomas du Toit, Will Stuart, and Archie Griffin at Bath. Fasogbon has Kirill Gototsev, Alfie Petch, and Ciaran Knight ahead of him at Gloucester, and it's the same for Halliwell at Bristol where the queue starts with Max Lahiff, George Kloska, and Lovejoy Chawatama.
Opoku-Fordjour also faces an unforeseen obstacle at Sale, due to plans to turn him into a tight-head (see panel, left).
This Premiership ‘parking' of England's rising props stalls careers, because playing every week is vital. Promotion-chasing Championship clubs provide an answer through a season-long loan scheme in which Premiership clubs play their wages, as well as a fee to the Championship.
However, this pathway is also currently blocked, with the RFU/ Premiership so far unable to commit to such a no-brainer solution.
This hopeless administration of player pathways probably explains why there is not a single member of the pack, let alone front row forward, from the last England U20 World Championship winning team in 2016 anywhere to be seen in the current England senior squad.
It cannot be allowed to happen again.
