FOR THE FIRST time in as long as I remember, the scrum dominated the build-up to a big game.

And it wasn’t just idle cliches about how the set-piece would be a battle; the scrum was properly under the radar.

The Australians were shining a light on Joe Marler, while the English media were buttering up Romain Poite. Whether the propaganda from either side was correct or incorrect, more of it is needed to put pressure on props to scrummage legally in the long-term.

In the short-term though, it leaves referees in an unenviable position. It would have been impossible for Romain Poite to ignore the headlines about Joe Marler during the week, and in the early stages of last night’s game, Australia tried to take advantage of the Eglishman’s reputation.

Australia were pinged in the opening scrum for an early drive, but when they packed down for the second scrum, Kepu tried to manufacture a penalty by pulling Marler by the arm, to create the illusion that he was angling in.

We can see in the gif below how Kepu switches his bind onto the arm of Marler, and squeezing his shoulders into him, forcing him to come inside.

Kepu then begins to bore in on Tom Youngs, and in the picture below we can actually see how Marler is still driving relatively straight.

One prop trying to bend the rules can cause chaos, but when opposing props are both trying to pull the wool over the referee’s eyes, it’s almost impossible to control.

After Kepu chanced his arm on that scrum, Marler had a go on the next one.

We can see in the still below how Marler gets a bind on Kepu’s shorts, and uses it to pull Kepu’s hips out.

By pulling Kepu’s hips out with his bind, Marler the drives across the scrum, causing it to move sideways.

In the gif below, keep a close eye on Marler’s left foot, as he pushes off to the right, and into Kepu.

The back and forth between Kepu and Marler was becoming messy, and it wasn’t long before Kepu appeared to milk a penalty.

The accusation mostly presented to Marler is that he moves in at the angle, tucking his head under his opponent’s chest and driving across.

As we set up for this scrum, we can see his distinctive bleached hair outside the chest of Kepu as it should be.

But when the ball is fed, Kepu seems to be pointing in. We can just about see how as the scrum is beginning to turn, we can still just about see the head of Marler outside Kepu’s chest, which would indicate the Englishman is doing his best to stay straight.

The problem for props is that if your opponent angles in, inevitably you will end up following in.

And when Marler does follow in on Kepu, the Australian pops up out of the scrum.

Like a game of cat and mouse, on the very next scrum Marler was penalised, and he can’t have the slightest complaint.

As we see in the initial view of the scrum, all six front row players are locked straight and square to one another.

But as soon as the ball is fed, Marler begins to drive up off his left leg, straight across the scrum, and it’s a very, very easy decision for Poite.

A second early shove from the Australians was punished with a penalty by Poite, before Marler was again penalised.

This time, his reputation may have gone ahead of him.

As he did on the second scrum of the day, Kepu appears to shorten his bind on Marler, squeezing him in.

At the same time, Kepu slips to his knees, but Marler is penalised for coming in at an angle.

It’s a call that could go either way. While Marler is definitely at an angle, it’s arguable that he’s been pulled in by Kepu.

In the still image below we can see that Kepu definitely has a hold of Marler’s arm, jerking him in, and while Marler is in at an angle, he’s still outside the shoulder of his opponent, shown by the red line.

When Marler does bore into a scrum, he usually has a higher point of attack, along the path of the green line.

Marler’s reputation was probably the main reason for that penalty concession, but he somehow avoided conceding on the first scrum of the second half, with arguably the most blatant crooked drive of the whole day.

Given the back and forth cheating by Marler and Keup all day, I haven’t been too critical op Romain Poite up until now, but this was a terrible non-call.

Because of the camera angles given to us, it’s impossible to analyse either Merler or Kepu on the final scrum the pair squared down together for. On this occasion, Marler penalised for the third time on the game and given a warning by Poite, prompting Mako Vunipola’s interruption.

We’ll watch it below. Australia are moving forward, but it’s moving at an angle towards the corner, which will be caused by either Marler of Kepu boring in.

It’s impossible to see who caused it, so the benefit of the doubt will be given to Poite here.

Marler was immediately replaced by Mako Vunipola, and as the changes made the Australian dominance only increased.

And considering the job England did to the Welsh scrum, this Saturday in Twickenham could be a long night for Warren Gatland’s pack.