Scrum wars have broken out between Wales and England with both sides firing heat-seeking verbal missiles from their well-stocked supplies of PR weaponry.
First to launch a long range attack from Cardiff was Wales forwards coach Robin McBryde, who reacted to a planted question in a press conference by smoothly releasing a well-rehearsed attack on the dodgy scrummaging technique of England prop Joe Marler.
No sooner had the scud crashed into Twickenham HQ than Eddie Jones was pummeling the strike button with a ferocious counter-attack.
Wales, said Jones, were guilty of scrummaging which was “terribly illegal” – a phrase, which, if nothing else, proves that the Aussie has adjusted quickly to the language of his new chums.
Both fusillades were discharged so effortlessly, and were so synchronized it is difficult to imagine anything other than that both sides knew what was coming at some stage from the other side.
As the countdown to Saturday’s Six Nations clash begins, McBryde
declared that the England loose-head Marler “definitely needs to scrummage legally, otherwise we will be pointing the finger”.
That brought a sharp rebuke from Jones who insisted on BBC Radio 5 Live, “Wales play the laws very well. I’m quite upset about the way they scrummage.
“They scrummage illegally. They pre-engage all the time, which is against the laws of the game. We’ve got the stronger scrum, so we want proper scrum laws. We want the laws enforced and if they are enforced we’ll get an advantage in that area.”
When asked if he thought Wales had been scrummaging illegally all tournament, Jones replied: “100%. 100%. Terribly illegally.”
The pre-match brinkmanship has thrust the performance of referee Craig Joubert under the spotlight in the South African’s first Test since the World Cup quarter-final, when he ran off the pitch having awarded Australia an erroneous penalty that they kicked to knock Scotland out of the tournament.
Jones believes officials yield to Wales’s illegal approach out of a desire to keep the game moving, but he has urged Joubert to enforce the laws even if it means repeated interruptions.
Wales have concerns of their own and, asked whether Marler’s technique was a contributory factor to Wales’ scrum problems against England in the World Cup last year, McBryde said: “That was the feedback we had after the World Cup, in particular, and he got found out against Australia. We’ve come on a long way since then, not just the players, but me as a coach.
“It’s one thing trying to appease the officials, but we have to be careful we don’t leave ourselves exposed as well in that area.”