So if the Ireland scrum is that bad...

ALLEGEDLY, Ireland has no scrum. Every Six Nations pundit worth his salt is expounding on the deficiencies of the Irish front row. Nonetheless, many are still grudgingly tipping Ireland as the championship favourites, albeit with the caveat – if the scrum holds up.

The right result against the Italians today is not just expected, it is indeed demanded by the Irish public. The pressure is also on the team to produce a performance worthy of Grand Slam champions, something befitting our position on rugby’s raised plateau.

The area under initial scrutiny will be the first point of contact: the scrum. An abrasive confrontation against the Italians is always to be expected. Irish teams have always had huge respect for the intensity and physicality that the Azurri bring to every game. Dead legs and black eyes are the norm in these ferocious battles. This intensity is amplified in the front row. The scrum is king. This was highlighted in the autumn internationals where the Italians destroyed the All Black front row. Driven on by 80,000 fans in the San Siro, they forced an opposition sin binning of prop Tia Tialata and were inexplicably denied a penalty try.

The video analysis done on that match will provide stark evidence of the huge challenge the Italians present at scrum time.

Video sessions in Munster were nearly always open forums. Declan Kidney showed us clips of the opposition strengths and weaknesses, and then threw it to the floor. He would show the opposition running some intricate back play off first phase and then ask “How do we defend that?”

The outfield backs studied the different lines of running of the opposing backline and proffered that a blitz defence could stop it. Others would suggest that we leave our open-side flanker worry about their 10 and the rest of us would shut out the outside.

Declan Kidney always approached the issue from another perspective. The first place we would stop them is at the scrum. If we were aggressive in the scrum, we would impact on the quality of their possession and as a result, their back play would either be run inefficiently or scrapped altogether. He always threw the challenge back to the pack. Keep working. Keep the leg drive going. Never let up on the opposition and especially not in the scrum. John Hayes has been the cornerstone of the Irish and Munster scrum for the last 13 years. He is hugely respected by his peers and coaches. He has deservedly been selected as Ireland’s first choice tight head prop for over a decade.

I don’t profess to have any knowledge of the dark arts of front row play, but I did ask a former front row colleague why the tight head is the most durable player. He said it was all about the engagement, the moment when the two teams collide against each other.

At every scrum, the tight head absorbs the majority of the impact on the engagement. Tight heads are locked in between the opposition loose head and hooker. Behind these two is the power of two second rows and the back row. Effectively the tight head prop feels the bulk of the entire pack crashing onto his neck and shoulders. This happens, on average, about 14 times a match. It is a miracle that these beasts of men can contribute to anything more than scrummaging in a match.

The engagement is the key. If a tight head absorbs the shock and gets a nudge forward, he shifts the whole scrum up on the right. This opens up the whole right side of the pitch to attack. If you see Tomás O’Leary breaking off a scrum or Tommy Bowe in space off first phase, it is more than likely after a good engagement by the Irish tight head.

I was recently asked an innocent question about John Hayes in general play: why is he always the man standing next to the ruck with his hand in the air? This defensive position is known as The Pillar. It is the foundation for every defender outside. The pillar’s main responsibility is to ensure that nothing goes inside him and nothing goes through him. This becomes a very physical job as you get closer to your own tryline and a big man is required for the role. Hayes is there because he’s doing his job properly.

In attack, Hayes is rarely a ball carrier. His job is to clear. With his imposing bulk, he blasts opponents attempting to steal the ball and secures Irish possession. And this allows the dynamic loosehead prop Cian Healy to display his impressive ball-carrying ability. Healy is at the other end of the experience and age spectrum to Hayes, but he is already proving himself to be a force. He will have learned from his experience against the awesome South African front row in the autumn and is sure to improve with age.

For some reason the current Irish pack have been tagged as the team who can’t compete in the scrum. Their detractors have said it could hinder their chances of back to back Championships. Reputedly the Irish can’t scrummage. Reputation can often be ill-founded.