A new insight as Feek puts pack of hacks to the test

Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek gave journalists increased knowledge of scrummaging rules.

Wisely, they kept the pedigree specimens out on the pitch, where no harm could come to them, as inside the bowels of the Aviva Stadium, Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek shared some of the dark secrets of the front row to a motley crew of journalists.

The former All Black adopted a ‘no pain, no gain’ approach to his teachings, the best way to feel what it is like to experience the pain of a scrum is to inflict the impact on each other.

So, hacks who sometimes don’t like being in the same stadium as each other ended up cheek-to-cheek as Feek lined up a few pairs and shoved them into action.

Being able to maintain a visual rather than active role was the first time in eight months I was grateful for a slipped disc in my back. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that a few of my colleagues have something similar this morning!

The purpose of the gig, a welcome development in the relationship between journalists and coaches, was to give those who report and commentate on games some idea of what is involved.

Feek is an expert in the field, having initially worked with Leinster after Schmidt brought him to Ireland and now he has taken over full-time responsibility for the national pack.

Feek said that it took some time to adjust to the new scrum laws but that players are now settled in them.

“The first six weeks was difficult, just adjusting and the players adjusted. We all have grown together with it and now I feel we’re in a reasonably good place.

“The boys have got more comfortable with it, they actually prefer training sessions to doing live stuff now, rather than machines.

“The technique now is all about getting the cohesiveness of the pack and getting everyone buying into what we’re doing. There are a number of ways of doing it, different teams have different methods. But I think if you do that method really well, keep the scrum up for a start and play by the law, you could get a good contest out of it. Not always perfect but you try to get to that 90% mark,” he said.

The performance of the Irish scrum in helping land the Six Nations crown pleased him, but there is always room for improvement and Feek’s job, which also includes being involved in the national scrum development programme, is to keep raising the bar.

“We were about 89-90% on our own ball, played about 74-75% off it. We were the best disciplined scrum, which was a goal of ours. So those things, I think are part and parcel. Being disciplined is good technique and applying ourselves the best we can, in that and I think that was a strength of the Irish players. Really being able to soak up that detail and being disciplined enough so the 90% of winning our ball was a result of staying legal and not being pinged.”

During the boom years we were bereft of props, now in recession we seem to have an abundance of front row players but Feek firmly believes Ireland will be well served in coming years with a decent crop of props.

“I don’t want to be overly confident because there’s a lot of factors. But there are some good signs we’re going to be in a good place, I think, in 18 months’ time. Even now with the emergence of Marty Moore coming through and there’s a few other guys knocking on the door,” he added.

Gosh, I didn’t think we had impressed him that much!