@pakman said in Wallabies vs Lions III:
In that same thread, there’s an interesting overhead view of the first scrum penalty against the Wallabies, with a lot of people again focusing on Porter’s boring in. But when you slow it down and focus just on the actions of the Wallaby pack, then I’d argue the main issue is their faulty timing.
Alaalatoa is a split second ahead of his fellow front-rowers but this split second ripples through the entire pack. Most importantly, the second row loses their connection with the front row, Skelton falling to one knee and Frost being in a diagonal position, leaving both unable to get a decent push on. Furthermore, Wilson detaches almost immediately at the back.
As a result, the togetherness of the Wallaby pack is severely compromised, which the Lions forwards sense and exploit by attacking as a collective. And while Porter is scrumming at an angle, I’d say that, on the whole, the Lions pack shows more cohesion and power in a forward direction.
As the former Wallaby prop Topo Rodriguez writes in his book, Rugby: The Art of Scrummaging (2015, revised ed.), “The necessary timing can’t be achieved if the scrum operates in two sections [...], it has to be the whole eight thinking, acting and reacting as one (89)." Mike Cron would’ve not been pleased, I imagine.
