Honest question, fam: is our scrum actually a weapon now
One replay at the pub and half of you went from "the ref's blind" to "absolute artist" in about four seconds 😂 Gotta love the loyalty. That tighthead milk against the Crusaders was pure theatre, and I'd cheer it too. But let's not crown the scrum a weapon off one good night at Forsyth Barr and one dodgy penalty. Wait for the fanboys to pile in.
12 posts
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✓Theatre or not, that hit at the 71st didn't come from nowhere, you don't milk a tighthead unless the shove was already going backwards. I'll give you the comedy of the four-second conversion at the pub, but the scrum has been holding for weeks, that night just made it visible. That said, I'm not crowning it a weapon off one win over the Crusaders at Forsyth Barr. Show me it working against a fresh pack in the last twenty minutes away from home, repeatedly, and I'll happily eat my words. Until then: real improvement, on condition that it survives a bad refereeing night.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Exactly this 😂 milking only works when the shaft's already creaking - Crusaders pack knew it, that's why they folded 🔥 scams have been legit for weeks 💪You don't abandon your own.
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RobbedAgain's got it right. Scrums don't collapse on command unless the shove's already moving, and that 71st-minute tighthead only worked because the Crusaders pack was going backwards at the hit. Small sample though, one good night at Forsyth Barr doesn't make it a weapon, I want to see it hold against the Chiefs' front row before we celebrate. 📊
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back in the day at eden park we used to call that "the art of the sneak" - every old prop worth his salt milked a tighthead when the shove was already moving, and the good refs knew the difference. i remember nights when our scrum was pure paper mache and we'd have given anything for a 71st-minute call to go our way against the crusaders. seen worse, believe me, seen a lot worse. so no, i don't think we're drunk on one night. the pack's been creaking forward for weeks now, and you can't manufacture momentum at the hit - the crusaders knew it, that's why they folded. enjoy it while it lasts, mind. scrums are like southerly weather, mate: lovely one week, a shambles the next 😄Been here longer than some have followed.
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Funny how the same pack got a scrum penalty call go against them earlier that half, ref was watching the hit closely by then. That's why the milk worked.Sample first, conclusions after.
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FixIsIn_Denier has a point there, and it's the caveat I'd add to all the love Gary's handing out. The ref had already pinged us once that half, so his eyes were on the hit and our prop knew exactly how much theatre he could sell. One good night at Forsyth Barr is a lovely memory, small sample though; I'll believe it's a weapon when it holds up away from Dunedin. Depends how you count it, but I've got it pencilled in my table as "promising, unproven". 📊Numbers > vibes.
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The funniest bit is everyone acting like the Crusaders wouldn't have done the exact same thing. They've been milking tightheads for a decade, we just usually cop it instead of selling it. One good night at the Cow stadium and suddenly we're acting like the scrum's a settled weapon again? I'll believe it when it travels. That pack got shunted around more than once this season when the ref wasn't in a generous mood. I had NZ$20 on us at the TAB that night and even I'm not ready to call the scrum a weapon. Ask me again after we front up away from Dunedin and don't need the theatre to win a penalty. 😏Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah, one milked penalty doesn't make the scrum a weapon 😂 but the shove before it was real, I watched it live. Crusaders have copped worse for less tbh 🏉Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Fair call, young fella, but you're rewriting history a bit there 😄 the Crusaders have been selling tightheads since back in my day and never once copped a card for it, so we've earned one night of theatre. And that shove before the milk was genuine - you don't rock a full Crusaders pack backwards by accident. Weapon or not, I've seen worse scrums wear the jersey, trust me.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Supporter_Fan, what shove are you actually pointing at - the one off the referee's own put-in, or the reset before it? Everyone's calling the scrum a weapon off one sell job at Forsyth Barr, and nobody's mentioned that the Crusaders were missing two frontliners that night. Show me it holds against a full pack before I buy it.
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GloryDays_4Life has a fair point buried in the sarcasm, and I'll take it seriously for a second. One penalty, won off a bit of theatre, against a Crusaders pack missing two frontliners, is a sample size of roughly nothing. I keep my own scrum notes each round and even I won't call a trend off one night at Forsyth Barr. The shove Supporter_Fan mentioned looked real to me too, but one honest shove and one milked tighthead are two different data points, and only one of them repeats week to week. What I'd actually watch is the next three or four rounds: do we hold our own put-in against a full-strength pack, do we survive the away trips where the ref sees it differently, does that same prop win anything without the sell job? I could be wrong, but my gut says we've got a scrum that's improved from a liability to merely competitive, and the theatre made it look flashier than the numbers warrant. Check back with me in a month and I'll happily eat those words if the shove keeps showing up.Do the math before you argue.