The Welsh are not happy with Tadhg Furlong.
I don’t understand it.
How could you be mad at Big Tadhg?
But here we are two weeks later talking about his scrummaging in Ireland’s win over Wales in the second round of the Guinness Six Nations.
The Welsh are not very happy. Like, at all. Their forward coach, Jonathan Humphreys, had a lot to say about Furlong’s scrummaging (and the French scrum, to be fair) at this week’s press conference ahead of Wales’ game with France at the weekend.
His exact words were;
“The laws are clear. They’re very clear that you must push straight. That’s what it says.
“And yet there are still rewards out there for tight-heads who angle across the scrum.”
When Humphrey’s is talking about Furlong’s scrummaging, what exactly is he talking about?
Let’s have a look at the two moments he’s talking about.
The first one he mentioned was a big defensive scrum in the 62nd minute that was a big turning point in the contest. Furlong came up out of the tangle of bodies like he’s just found an envelope full of €500 notes under the turf.
In this instance, the influence of Furlong is more subtle but it still plays a role in pressurising the Welsh scrummage.
Romain Poite gave this penalty for Red #3 Dillon Lewis collapsing the scrum after a few resets.
That’s this action here.
To me, Dillon Lewis’ legs are so far back in this scrum that he’s always in danger of flopping onto his belly and conceding a penalty – especially with Poite standing right there. On the face of it, this is Dave Kilcoyne presenting a better picture than Lewis with the referee eyeballing them both. Kilcoyne has a good bind and is certainly helping Lewis unbalance downwards but his long foot position and the belly flop to the ground is enough for Poite to blow it up. Let’s have a look at the whole thing as it runs.
There’s a bit more going on. Look over at Furlong’s side. You can get an idea of the force transfer coming through the tighthead side as an isolating force on Lewis. The above GIF shows you that Lewis’ extended leg position happens quite late in the movement.
Kilcoyne is opposing Lewis quite well but for me, Furlong’s attack on Owens helps to isolate Lewis and, instead of angling out, the Welsh tighthead crumples to his stomach looking for a reset.
You can see the impact of Furlong on Owens here, with Herring pinning him in place;
Owens loses shape, crumples in at the shoulder and that action dislodges Jones in the second row which serves to isolate Lewis. Lewis extends his legs to compensate but collapses.
How is Furlong attacking Owens? First, let’s look at the way that scrums should look.
Both sides are 100% square with each other and pushing east vs west. It’s a nice idea. Sweet, almost. Maybe it’ll happen someday.
What Furlong does very effectively is to use his massive frame to shoulder slip away from his opposing loosehead and onto his opposing hooker.
This is boring in and across (of a kind) but Furlong tends to get away with it for a few different reasons but even then, typically, they tell tighthead props not to bore in as it gives an advantage to the opponent. So what is happening? Furlong isn’t really boring in – he’s changing the terms of engagement of the scrummage by rotating his angle inside.
Furlong pivots his bind with the loosehead into a direct attack on the hooker. You can see it in stark relief here, in the 30th minute. This is the other moment highlighted by Humphries.
What are we looking at here?
Watch Furlong’s rotational footwork to pivot around the loosehead to attack the hooker.
If you’re an assistant referee, what does a bore in usually look like? The arse of the offending prop usually kicks out towards the touchline but Furlong’s lateral position doesn’t change. His hips don’t swing out. He uses his feet to shift inside Wyn Jones and directly attack Owens.
In the end, it looks like Jones was the one boring in given the way his arse kicks out! Look at the finish with Owens collapsing under the angular pressure from Furlong!
O’Mahony adds to it by slipping up onto Jones to finish the job. It’s Furlong’s ability to pivot away from his loosehead while locking down his right side that’s the key. Furlong’s ability to move his feet around the joint between hooker and loosehead gives him direct access to scrummage down on the hooker while killing the loosehead’s ability to come up at him.
