• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Scrum Halfs

A

AllezWasps

Guest
I just read this from the bbc website: Battle of the Nines

It basically says how important Scrum Halfs have been this world cup (like the Fly Halfs in the last Cup) and it got me thinking how correct that is.

Ireland and Wales both had struggling 9's (Stringer and Peel) and both got knocked out by teams with good 9's (Argentina's Pichot and Fiji's Raulini)

New Zealand's Kelleher didn't particularly sparkle, Gregan also, and England under Perry was totally different to England under Gomarshall.

And the semis have the four best scrum halfs in the RWC. Elissalde came on late to the opener for France (they lost that) but has kicked his points well and generally improved France. du Preez has been stunning, he destroyed England and kept SA in control when they tried to give Fiji the win. Pichot IS Argentina. Without him, they lose so much pace, control and basically their side. And England have found their best scrum half since 2003 when we had Dawson/Bracken and even Healy.

Yet, dispite all of that, they are still all annoying ******** :p
 
quite important yes yes yes!

i dont see myself as annoying though!

Du Preez has been immense this whole tournament, by far the best scrum half in the RWC, and the world.
 
The two best scrum-halfs thus far facing off in the semi's. Should be epic!
 
I don't agree with much of that to be honest - I think it had more to do with the back row and play in the loose. For example: the games where Perry struggled he was behind a pack that was terribly slow, bashed about and getting turned over, remember when Gommers came on to replace him in the SA match and made no difference whatsoever?

You can apply the same to Gregan's poor performance when they played England, their pack was getting destroyed and that makes life extremely difficult for a SH (I played there for quite a while). Lets take Pichot, yes he's good but his life was made much easier by a good pack (think vs France at breakdowns) - notice how he didn't shine anywhere near as brightly in the Scotland game?

Just my $0.02.
 
My vote goes to Mosese Rauluni. He has had one of the best tournament so far...outplayed Peel, outplayed du Preez...all this while playing behind a pack going backwards at a speed only known by the Wallabies.
 
My vote goes to Mosese Rauluni. He has had one of the best tournament so far...outplayed Peel, outplayed du Preez...all this while playing behind a pack going backwards at a speed only known by the Wallabies.
[/b]
Click to expand...

100% agreed.
 
Raulini and Pichot wre playing some pretty good football, but for me Du Preez has been the best. Crisp service, always at the break down, non-faultering box kicks.

quite important yes yes yes!

i dont see myself as annoying though!

Du Preez has been immense this whole tournament, by far the best scrum half in the RWC, and the world. [/b]
Click to expand...
If you're not annoying then you're not doing a good enough job :p You have to get on the nerves of the opposite number and if possible more. (
 
If an opposition scrum half is constantly swatting the ball away as the scrumhalf with possession is passing the ball away, is that a knock on?
 
If it goes back in the direction of the half back then thats a rip kinda lol but anything else then its a knockon. Unless the ref calls it as deliberate slap down which is quite common if it results in a knock on or if the ref deems the ball out one the half passes it or starts to run.
 
what i did/do was when i was tracking the attackign scrumhalf as he picked up the ball, i just slapped it away as he passed it to his 1st receiver. So its a knock-on against me. If I keep doing then, is that a like punishable offence? not scrum infringement but penalty or a card?
 
what i did/do was when i was tracking the attackign scrumhalf as he picked up the ball, i just slapped it away as he passed it to his 1st receiver. So its a knock-on against me. If I keep doing then, is that a like punishable offence? not scrum infringement but penalty or a card? [/b]
Click to expand...



If you make no attempt to intercept the ball by catching it, then it is deemed a deliberate knock-on and should be punishable with a penalty. Like any penalty, if you persist then you are likely to end up with a card.
 
It seems that Scotland get a bit ignored in the Scrum half debate. We have 3 premiership quality scrum halves, and Lawson barely got a look in during the world cup - he must be gutted he's not Irish. Hopefully Cusiter can improve by going to Perpignan and avoid injury.



Agreed on Raulini and Pichot - they were the heartbeat of their sides.
 
Agree with Rauluni and Du Preez. I think Rualuni has been more obvious in what he does in terms of running, whereas Du Preez has probably been the top rugby brain at the world cup. His control of the game has been immense.



The England knockout games have also shown what can happen if you get to the scrum half. Gregan was impotent in the quarters and Ellisalde was caught with the ball several times at the base of rucks.



Hats off to Gomersall. in one part of Scrum half play i think he has been the best in this world cup: that's getting in the way of your opposite number. He is fairly typical of the English team in that he's not a class player, but he scraps like anything for any small advantage.
 
SH's have to have a real all round game: handling skill, vision, quick thinking, a kicking game and it's much harder to read the game standing nose to ass cheek with your forwards than it is from, say, full back. Personally, I think SH's are often the best players on the pitch. Having said that, I play 9 and I'm very rarely the best player on the pitch!
 
<div class='quotemain'>
My vote goes to Mosese Rauluni. He has had one of the best tournament so far...outplayed Peel, outplayed du Preez...all this while playing behind a pack going backwards at a speed only known by the Wallabies.
[/b]
Click to expand...

100% agreed.
[/b][/quote]

also agreed
 
Raulini and Pichot wre playing some pretty good football, but for me Du Preez has been the best. Crisp service, always at the break down, non-faultering box kicks.

<div class='quotemain'> quite important yes yes yes!

i dont see myself as annoying though!

Du Preez has been immense this whole tournament, by far the best scrum half in the RWC, and the world. [/b]
Click to expand...
If you're not annoying then you're not doing a good enough job :p You have to get on the nerves of the opposite number and if possible more. (
[/b][/quote]

Not annoying to my own boys ;) ;)

I do all kinds of crafty little antics to annoy my opposite number, wipe my hands off on their back, give em a little shove at the put in, stand in front of them at the put in (haha thats my favourite it really ****** them off, just stand there for a bit haha, i remember during our rivalry match i stood in front of the other 9 quite a few times and i could hear our subs laughin on the sideline cause the other 9 was gettin so ****** off!) anything to get on their nerves really!
 

Latest posts

Top