mens
nations-championship
The All black people‘ Scrum turned up the heat Scotland at Murrayfield, delivering the most dominant display of the year just two months after being outclassed during a Test series of rugby’s biggest rivalry. Tighthead prop Fletcher Newell says the performance was a great reward for the hard work behind the scenes.
New Zealand’s scrum provided a stable platform for the team’s attack during Dave Rennie’s first year under Dave Rennie, but they rarely tried to hold onto the ball to win a penalty in a set-piece battle instead of moving the ball quickly to the back.
However, at Murrayfield, the Kiwi pack recognized their advantage in the second half and capitalized on it. Scotch props were punished with back-to-back tackles, contributing to a 19-0 run in the second half. Three Scottish props finished the game with penalties to their names, and Zander Fagerson pinged twice.
Newell, who played 62 minutes of the Test, credited the reserves with challenging the top players in training during the week.
“I think we developed very well,” he told reporters after the game. “Obviously, working through the biggest rivalry in rugby, I feel like we’ve gone from strength to strength with our scrum, and we’ve put a lot of work into it.
“Thanks to the guys who have been setting up for us all week, the guys who aren’t playing – gosh, we’ve got so many good props in our team, and anyone could be there, and to be able to go against them, train against them, it makes our job easier when we get on the field on Saturday.”
It’s not just the front-row stock in good health for New Zealand, with the recent return of Scott Barrett, who missed the opening nine months of the year after injury and a layoff, bolstering the second-row unit.
Newell said that between the experience gained from playing South Africa four weeks in a row and the extra muscle Barrett has brought to the pack, the Kiwi scrum is growing nicely.
“I think it’s just taken a lot of learning and problem-solving. Obviously, having Scott Barrett back puts a lot of weight in the engine room, and he’s a very experienced scrummager, and he likes that. So I think it’s just the work we’ve done in training, putting a lot of emphasis on him, because, like the All Blacks, we should be proud of our team, being able to do that tonight.”
Newell finished the contest with 13 tackles from 14 attempts and did not concede a single penalty. The same cannot be said for several of his team-mates, with New Zealand’s indiscipline reduced to 13 men in the 32nd minute.
“We faced a lot of adversity there, especially in that first half,” reflected the prop. “We were under a lot of pressure, a couple of yellow cards, and yes, it was really hard to stop their momentum when they went forward.
“But really proud of how the guys dug deep and came out on the right side of that one. A couple of areas we’ll have to sort out: obviously, they scored a couple of maul tries and definitely our discipline. But yeah, overall pretty happy under the circumstances.”