Scotland squad take scrummaging practice into hotel corridors

The Scots were shown up in their opening World Cup match by Romania when they took the foot off the pedal in a couple of scrums and came under serious pressure, enough to play a part in the Oaks running into a 24-21 lead. They proved it was a one-off by taking on the Georgian pack, albeit with Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton and Nathan Hines taking over in a bigger Scottish front five.

Massimo Cuttitta, the former Italy prop and Scotland scrum coach, believes the opening Tests were perfect preparation for the final Pool B games, and the quest to clinch a quarter-final place, and served to underline how consistent they need to be to compete at this level.

That message appears to have got through to the point that the front rows have been grappling around the hotel. “We’re working hard on the scrummage,” said Cuttitta, “at the end of the session, when we have time. Even in the team room or in corridors, you will find people scrummaging, and talking about the technical side.

“It’s not just hard physical stuff on the machine; it’s also about individual technique, what you have in front of you, reading what’s happening and being able to understand what the opposition are trying to achieve against us and reacting to that.

“The boys have been working very hard from the first day we were in camp. So it’s only a matter of time before things start get better. We lacked a bit of concentration [against Romania] and we improved it in the next game. Rugby is a game where you have to concentrate and we’re looking now for consistency, whether you play against the All Blacks or the last team in the world.

“We knew from our analysis that we were coming up against some really physical and strong scrummaging sides. I’ve played against them in the past, and they [Georgia] are really physical.

“Just because they are not among the leading nations doesn’t mean they are not good in the set-piece. So it has been difficult but good for us to play two, hard physical games. Argentina will be sly and try to turn the scrums. We have analysed them and they do all sorts of things; we’ll be a bit more clever.”

That is the next focus, looming large on the horizon. The Scottish squad were given a day off yesterday, but they return to the training field, gyms and team rooms today with Pumas on their mind. Cuttitta is warning his players to expect a more skilled scrummage test this time, a bit of brain and brawn, and not to lay great store in the Test victories in Argentina last summer.

“We have to move on. That [2010 series] is finished; it’s gone. That’s something that was really good for us, and we can only get confidence from that, but we also know that every game has to be prepared for really well and you can’t just think about what we did the last time.

“You have to go on the field and perform, possibly even better than we did against them the last time. They have always had good traditions in the scrum so are a team that you can never under-estimate – they can come out at any time with a really good scrum.

“They can turn it or they can steamroller you. So every scrum is important and we have to really concentrate against them.”