The British & Irish Lions 125th anniversary tour to Australia in 2013 may be a few years away, but the scrummage is already becoming an area of contention ahead of the much anticipated tour.
The Wallabies have struggled at scrum time in all their northern hemisphere Tests this month and were ruthlessly exposed in that area by England during the summer.
But Aussie coach Robbie Deans believes his forwards are getting unfairly treated and has also accused the All Blacks of “trickery” and “manipulation” in the all important set-piece area.
Deans believes that many of the penalties his side has conceded at the scrum have been unwarranted and claims the reason that referee’s blow against his side when there is a scrum collapse is down to preconceived notions
“There's no doubt a lot of decisions in the past have been based around preconception, as opposed to what has actually happened. As long as referees are provided with negative incentives, teams and players will take it,” claimed Deans ahead of his side’s clash with France this weekend.
“Sometimes, if it's the easy option to do something that's already been suggested, it's an easy out for them. Standing up against the tide is intimidating and challenging for an individual and so you can understand their sentiments.”
Whoever coaches the Lions in Australia in 2013 with have a wealth of talented front row forwards to consider for their squad. The all-Welsh front row trio who faced the Springboks last year, Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones, will all be in their prime at 32, Scottish tight head specialist Euan Murray will be a similar age, while England powerhouse Andrew Sheridan will be 34.
Then there are youngsters like Ireland’s Cian Healy and England’s Dan Cole to consider, while England hooker Dylan Hartley will only be 29 and his Scottish counterpart Ross Ford, who toured with the 2009 Lions, will be the same age.
Deans also took a swipe at the All Blacks, claiming they “don’t scrummage”. “They just manipulate, they play the referee constantly. It's all about trickery,” he added.
“Then you get across to the United Kingdom, and they scrummage more so. There are elements of trickery, but they do want to go forward with that trickery.”
