SMALL MOMENTS CHANGE games. Ireland may have lost three of their most important players, but a French injury early in the second half changed the balance of their scrum, and handed the initiative to Ireland.

The outstanding Eddy Ben Arous had to be replaced with a head injury early in the second half, and while it wasn’t a moment that changed the entire game, it was definitely a moment that changed the scrums.

The first half was about survival at the scrum for Ireland. A few slips, and some messy ball showed the pressure Ireland were under.

But in the opening minutes of the second half, Ben Arous – who until that point had been on top against Mike Ross – got a blow to the head and left the pitch for a concussion assessment.

Against his replacement Vincent Debaty, Mike Ross started to dominate, but when Debaty had to leave the pitch for blood treatment, it was Ben Arous who was brought back on, just six minutes after coming off injured.

He didn’t look the same player, and was obliterated by Ross on the very next scrum. From here the Irish pack seized control, and when Debaty returned for the final 12 minutes of the game, Nathan White took him apart with ease.

Early struggles

But before we look at that, we’re going to analyse the early difficulties Ross and Healy had with the French duo of Ben Arous and Slimani.

While Ross and Ben Arous had a great, fair tussle on the near side, things got messy between Healy and Slimani on the far side, on the first scrum of the day.

Here we can see how the scrum sets up, with Ross and Ben Arous both showing perfect technique.

Source: World Rugby

And as the ball makes its way to the back of the scrum, we can see that while both props on the near side look perfect, both Healy and Slimani have popped up at the far side.

With no other camera angle available, figuring out who caused it is next to impossible.

Source: World Ryugby

However France struck the first blow by winning a penalty on the second scrum of the game. Cian Healy loses his footing and goes down, Nigel Owens awarding the decision to France.

It’s difficult to get a clear view with the camera angle available, but it looks like a fair enough call. As we mentioned in our review of the Ireland v Canada scrums, Healy scrums with his feet quite far back from his body, so when a scrum does collapse, the call will likely go against him.

Source: World Rugby

As expected France’s scrum power was starting to show, and we soon saw just how hard Mike Ross was working to keep himself from going backwards.

While Ben Arous doesn’t tend to angle into a scrum, he does tend to bind short and try pull his prop down occasionally, and on the third scrum it looks like he did so to Ross.

We can see how he uses his bind to twist his shoulder down to the left, which causes Ross to drop onto his kne6e.

Source: World Rugby

Instead of collapsing, Ross got back onto his feet straight away to keep the scrum upright, but we could see just how much effort he was exerting to prevent himself going backwards.

Normally Ross has his angles spot on, but in this scrum he had to almost fully lock-out his legs to stop Ben Arous driving through him.

It’s not ideal to have to do it, but it’s not illegal if you can keep the scrum up, and sometimes needs must.

We can see the yellow line indicating the position of his legs, while the blue line is a rough guide what his normal stance would look like.

Source: World Rugby

If we watch the scrum through as a whole, we can see just how much Ben Arous is pumping his legs to move forward, and just how locked-out Ross is to keep Ireland stable.

Source: World Rugby

France stepped up the pressure on the next Irish put-in, and Ben Arous really took advantage of Ross, resulting in messy ball coming out of the scrum and France turning over.

In four still images we can see how Ben Arous got in under Ross.

The first is just before the ball is being fed, and we can see once again how locked-out Ross’ legs are, compared to the ideal angles of Ben Arous.

Source: World Rugby

And because his legs are so locked-out, his stability is compromised. One second later, he slips to his knee.

Source: World Rugby

But just like last time – and it;s something we’ll see from Healy later – he gets back to his feet immediately, rather than just pull the scrum down with him.

However in doing so he loses a lot of his driving power, with Ben Arous forcing him upwards.

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Before finally, he pops up.

Source: World Rugby

Gamechanger

It was the last scrum of the first half, and the last time France would dominate at the set-piece. Two minutes into the second half, Ben Arous took a blow to the head at a ruck and came off for treatment.

His substitute Vincent Debaty’s first act was to step into a scrum, and it didn’t go well.

We can’t get a good sight at it, but Ross gets a slight nudge on Debaty. On the side we can see, Rabah Slimani seems to pull down Healy.

But it’s important to note how like Ross before, Healy gets back up to his feet straight away.

Source: World Rugby

And when Healy is back on his feet, we can see how Slimani drops his bind onto the arm of Healy, pulling him in. France get the ball out, but it was messy.

Source: World Rugby

The next scrum of the day showed just how much influence a referee can have.

After seeing that the scrum went down last time, Owens tells his touchjudge to keep a close eye on both Healy and Slimani: “Watch his legs, and watch his bind”.

Naturally enough, the next scrum passed off without incident.

One of the most crucial scrums of the day followed soon after, and it was notable for several reasons.

Firstly, the previously injured Eddy Ben Arous returned to the pitch in place of a blood-soaked Vincent Debaty. Ben Arous was clearly unfit to continue, getting pummelled by Ross, and it was Ross’ nudge that led to Robbie Henshaw’s break through midfield, which was shortly followed by Rob Kearney’s try.

First, we’ll, look at Cian Helay’s role. Just like Ben Arous v Ross in the first half, Healy shows perfect posture and angles, while Slimani has his legs fully locked out, and is starting to turn inside.

Source: World Rugby

We can’t see the mechanics of it, but Ross gets strong drive on Ben Arous who pops up out of the scrum.

Source: World Rugby

Ross continues to march forward, and with Healy holding back slightly, it creates an arc, with the right side of the scrum moving up further than the left.

Below, the blue line runs parallel to the initial position of the front row, while the yellow line shows the front row’s present position. By arcing forward like this it means that the French backrow are being pushed further and further away from the gainline, creating more space for Ireland to attack.

Source: World Rugby

And when we play the move through in full, we can see the space it creates.

Source: World Rugby

That brought Ireland into the 22, and after they secured another scrum five metres out, it led to Rob Kearney touching down.

Dominance was firmly established at this stage. Ross was comfortably dealing with Ben Arous, while Slimani was again pulling Healy to the ground.

We can see below how he binds onto Healy’s tricep.

Source: World Rugby

Before dropping his right shoulder to send Healy to the ground. Again, Owens kept his whistle in his hand.

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Debaty returned to replace Ben Arous with 12 minutes to go, and conceded the crucial penalty that allowed Ian Madigan to kick the insurance points in the 75th minute.

It was given against Debaty, who was caught for hinging (bending at the waist), which is used to try force the opponent to collapse.

We can see below how Debaty and Nathan White start out, with their backs forming a long, straight line.

Source: World Rugby

But when we roll on for two seconds, we can see how Debaty than drops his head below his hips, with White still parallel to the ground.

Source: World Rugby

And if we watch it through in full, we can see how the hinge causes White to collapse.

Source: World Rugby

With Owens watching the other side of the scrum, it was a good call from touchjudge Wayne Barnes to award the penalty to Ireland, another example of good communicating between the officials.

After awarding Ireland the penalty, we can hear Owens communicating to the French: “The call is from my assistant referee. What was it, Barnesy, binding? Hinging…”

And after the above replay is shown in the stadium, Owens concurs: “Good call, spot on Barnsey!”

With the likes of Iain Henderson, Ian Madigan and Chris Henry all impressing, the game as a whole showed the importance of depth in the squad, and that was also proven in the scrum.

While France had the better of Ireland early on, Greg Feek’s scrum had more depth, and the long game paid off in style, with Jack McGrath having no trouble handling veteran Nicolas Mas, and Nathan White winning two penalties from the poor Debaty.