We go back to contact training next week and, I hope, real live scrummaging sessions for the first time in 15 weeks. Of course, there’ll be another full round of testing before that happens but some scrums can’t come soon enough.
There’s always an edge to scrum sessions. If someone got the upper hand on you they’d let you know. Everyone’s competing for spots and Robin McBryde has done great things with all his set-piece work.
It’s such a high standard too. You’re training against top-quality guys. Everyone has their head screwed on when it comes to the important stuff like scrums. Yet we’d be good mates too. We all have a love for food and I think that’s what unites us. A different mindset is required. It’s hard to explain. We’re a different breed.
The confrontational element is brilliant, mentally as well as physically. It’s being able to use your body for what it was made for.
I’d say the last time I went 15 weeks without scrummaging was probably before I played rugby! Okay, I started playing at the age of five, but even in my under-8 mini-rugby days with Old Wesley we had three v three uncontested scrums.
I did play in the backrow a little bit in my days with Old Wesley and in St Andrew’s College, until I was around 15. But most of my school days were at loosehead prop and then entirely from Junior Cup onwards.
I played two seasons for the Irish under-20s and went into the Leinster academy at loosehead prop in 2016, but around February of that first season John Fogarty and Leo Cullen planted the seed in my head of switching over to tighthead.
Cian Healy and Jack McGrath were the Irish and Leinster looseheads so I figured wherever I might get more game time I’d happily try it. I went back to UCD and played a few months at tighthead in the AIL.
That was tough. I was coming up against lads who had played at that level for at least a couple of years – relative veterans – and referees might let a few things go.
But in May of that 2016-17 season, I played my first game at tighthead when coming on for the last quarter away to Ulster, and then I was picked for the Irish tour of the USA and Japan that summer. “Congratulations, you’ve been selected for Ireland’s tour of the USA and Japan . . . ” I almost had to rub my eyes. I thought they must have had the wrong email address. I was only 21. But it was a nice shock.
Cian Healy was very good in helping me make the switch. He could tell what he would try to target in a tighthead and taught me how to counteract it. He knew all the ropes and it was great that he was on the summer tour too. He knew how everything worked in that set-up. He was like my big brother leading me through my first few days at school.
I made my debut when coming on for the last half-hour in New Jersey. What I remember most is the heat and humidity. I think it was one of the hottest games I’ve ever played in and the nerves didn’t help either. There were a multitude of things going through my head, uppermost among them being: “Don’t drop the ball. Don’t drop the ball.” I thought I did all right. I pictured it going worse.
When I came on for the last quarter in the second Test in Tokyo two weeks later it was as hot. At least the nerves were a little more settled three weeks into the tour.
Switching over from loosehead to tighthead at first was like writing with your bad hand. When you’re scrumming at loosehead you only have the tighthead to go against, basically. When you’re scrumming at tighthead, you’re coming up against the loosehead and the hooker. There’s a lot more weight coming through your body. You feel your spine compressing and your head filling up, and when you stand up from a scrum you have to take a gasp of breath.
So you have to be smart. There’s method to the madness as well, rather than just brute force and I think that’s where my downfall can be some times. I’m continually learning, whether the experiences are good or bad. You come up against different opponents every week who scrum in their own unique way, and that’s why video analysis is so important. It’s a lot more technical than people might expect. A smaller prop can always get underneath a bigger prop and pop him up.
But there’s no better way to prepare than being able to train with some of the best frontrowers in the world and learn the tricks of the trade through them as well.
It’s been a good move for me. I’ve been part of some great days with Leinster and Ireland, and now I have both under my belt – I was able to play either side before and during the World Cup.
I’ve played plenty of games off the bench and hopefully the starts will become more frequent, but it’s not as if replacement props are coming up against tiring opponents. They’re usually coming up against equally fresh players, so the challenge is still there.
England always have a good scrum and New Zealand too. You’d be trying to push and you just wouldn’t be going anywhere. You don’t move your feet and you don’t move an inch. There hasn’t been one easy game and there’s been a few particularly tough ones. You are your own harshest critic. Some days I can be very unhappy with my performance, even if we’ve won. I’ll always go through things I could have done in my own performance.
I’ve been lucky with my coaches. Greg Feek was brilliant for me. He’s a scrum guru. He was always great to pick for knowledge on opponents and when I was transitioning across to tighthead.
Scrums are also continually changing. No two scrums are ever exactly the same. You never know for sure what the opponent is going to bring. You have to prepare for all eventualities. Building experience is so valuable. It’s about having a feel for it as well, not just going off on your own. You have to stick to the script. You can’t do your own thing. It’s a collective effort, even if we’re usually the ones thrown under the bus if something goes wrong.
A good day in the scrums is the starting point for all props. Sure, we have to make our tackles and carries, and hit our rucks. I’ve scored a few tries, but I think the average distance is about half a metre. My face scrapes along the ground every time.
A big scrum at a key moment is, hands down, definitely more satisfying than scoring a try. Instead of it being an individual moment, it’s all the lads working together and if I get a few congratulations for it, so be it.
It’s just one of those feelings you can’t replace with anything else. The endorphins and the adrenalin . . . Maybe I just haven’t scrummed in a while.
