Referees ready to blow whistle on front-row fun

Chris Hewett
Saturday 09 September 2006 00:00 BST
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Those rugby aficionados with a taste for all-in wrestling should be in for a high old time this weekend, when a couple of human bench-press machines - David Flatman of Bath and Julian White of Leicester - meet at the Recreation Ground. At more or less the same time, England's first-choice loose-head prop, Andrew Sheridan of Sale, will be pitting whatever wits a front-row troglodyte can be said to possess against Northampton's much talked-about Pat Barnard, a bolter for next year's World Cup squad. If only it were possible to be in two places at once.

There again, these individual conflicts may be whistled into oblivion by the refereeing fraternity. Why? Because the scrum - or rather, the scrum engagement - is a mess.

If the opening round of the Premiership was anything to go by, it will get messier still. Steve Meehan, the Bath coach, was less than entertained by the refereeing of the set-piece at Kingsholm a week ago. Twenty-four hours later, his opposite number at Sale, Philippe Saint-Andre, could be heard muttering along similar lines. Alan Gaffney of Saracens had an issue or two at Twickenham; John Brain of Worcester has been struggling to make sense of the situation for a month.

Front-row forwards always indulge in a little chicanery. It would be rude of them not to. The trouble at the moment is that the All Blacks, using what the technicians call the threequarter crouch and the rolling hit, do it better than anyone and have reaped substantial rewards as a result.

At the annual referees' workshop a few weekends ago, Phil Keith-Roach, the architect of England's World Cup-winning scrum, gave a brilliant presentation, explaining how the New Zealanders have achieved a 40 per cent advantage over their opponents by perfecting the art of engaging on their own terms, rather than those laid down by the man charged with running the show.

The referees have thus been made aware of the All Blacks' dodgy tactics, which are now in common usage around the Premiership, and are of a mind to make a stand. Unfortunately, they have yet to arrive at a common approach. As Meehan said last Saturday: "We heard one thing from Twickenham at the start of the week, and another from the referee 20 minutes before kick-off. We need to know where we stand." Few coaches expect to be blessed with such knowledge any time soon.

We will know more about Harlequins come tea-time today, that's for sure. The Londoners play their first home game since returning to the élite league against Gloucester, who deserved their victory over Bath last weekend, irrespective of the rights and wrongs at the set-piece. As Dean Richards, the director of rugby at Quins, said in respect of his side's opening-day defeat by London Irish: "It was a game we could have won, maybe should have won. With five minutes to go, we were two points up. We then made three simple mistakes, gave away two penalties and lost the match."

Quins have some pace behind the scrum; indeed, the likes of Tom Williams and David Strettle, both promoted to the starting line-up, are every bit as rapid as their Gloucester opponents. They also have Andrew Mehrtens at outside-half, which should count for plenty. But not even Mehrtens in his All Black heyday could inflict much damage without a reasonable supply of possession, and if his forwards prove as brittle on grass as they appear on the teamsheet, he will end the afternoon in a state of terminal frustration.

Bath, meanwhile, have performed major surgery on their back division as a direct result of events at Kingsholm, where their try-scoring feats were performed by one Daniel Grewcock, who was put on this earth to shift pianos, not play them. Nick Abendanon, Joe Maddock and Chris Malone start the game, while Shaun Berne relocates to outside centre.

If Leicester shut out this latest combination, the return to fitness of the Samoan centre Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu will be the most urgent item on the Recreation Ground agenda.

Premiership team news

* BATH v LEICESTER

(Today, 2.15pm)

Chris Malone is at fly-half for Bath and Shaun Berne moves to outside centre. Nick Abendanon replaces Michael Stephenson at full-back. For Leicester, Ireland's Geordan Murphy is replaced by the Fiji wing Seru Rabeni and Julian White comes in at tight-head for Martin Castrogiovanni, who sits on the bench.

* HARLEQUINS v GLOUCESTER

(Today, 3pm)

Andrew Mehrtens makes his first appearance of the season at fly-half for Harlequins and David Strettle, an England sevens international, makes his competitive debut on the left wing. James Bailey replaces the injured Iain Balshaw on the Gloucester left wing.

* SALE v NORTHAMPTONFDI

(Today, 2pm)

The England prop Andrew Sheridan makes his first start for Sale since last February and Jason White switches to the second row. The Saints captain Bruce Reihana moves to outside centre, Robbie Kydd taking over at full-back. Mark Robinson replaces the scrum-half Johnny Howard, who is suspended.

* BRISTOL v SARACENS

(Tomorrow, 3pm)

Bristol's centre Andy Reay has not trained all week, but Sam Cox is fit and replaces him. The Ireland international Shane Byrne starts at hooker for Saracens, with Matt Cairns coming on to the bench and Fabio Ongaro, the Italy international, enjoying a rest.

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