What is wrong with Ireland’s scrum? How England can exploit set piece advantage in Six Nations clash

It was perhaps the most striking image of the second round of the Six Nations. One needs only a rudimentary knowledge of the mechanics of the scrum to know that the sight of a tighthead hoisted high in the air, rump pointing almost skywards, is not, generally, a good sign. A troubling image for Ireland came in the 65th minute of their win over Italy, a headline image to underscore a day of dominance at the scrum for the Azzurri.

This writer can only recall one recent example like it, in a World Cup qualifier between Samoa and Belgium in November– and the Pacific Island nation were actually penalised for driving upwards, on that occasion. That, though, was a clash of seasoned scrummaging stalwarts against a mostly amateur pack. The backside flung high in the air was attached to Tadhg Furlong, nine times a Test British and Irish Lion, sent for at half time with Tom Clarkson and Jeremy Loughman struggling mightily.

It was the second consecutive home fixture in which Ireland’s scrum had been shown up as a major issue. While Italy were eventually overcome, South Africa’s set-piece dismantling of Andy Farrell’s side in November saw both Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy sent to the sin bin for persistent offences and the Springboks seemingly eschew chances to score points to instead send a clear message at scrum-time.

There was mitigation for the performance against Italy. The Azzurri’s scrum has been excellent in the last 12 months, troubling the Springboks to such a degree in November that Rassie Erasmus switched both of his props inside 25 minutes. “It’s phenomenal how quickly they’ve come on over the last year,” Farrell stressed. “Part of the reason I think – I’m just talking out loud here – of why South Africa were so dominant against us (in November) is because Italy put them massively under pressure the week before and there was a reaction to that.”

Injuries have been a problem, too. Porter, McCarthy and Jack Boyle are all absent, with Loughman starting as seemingly Farrell’s fourth-choice loosehead. It is not long, either, since the retirement of Cian Healy, taking 137 caps of experience with him. Any side, perhaps bar the aforementioned South Africa, might struggle under the circumstances – although it should be noted that both England and France have a number of props currently out.

So what has gone wrong? Clearly, the absence of Porter is a major blow. His scrummaging style, and unorthodox binding position, is not to every referee’s liking but he and Furlong, who has struggled with injury over the last two years, have anchored the Irish unit for so long and marry well.

Scrummaging is far from solely a front row effort, of course – it was notable that the scrummaging struggles against South Africa came in the absence of Joe McCarthy, their largest lock. McCarthy’s removal on the 51st minute against Italy had a detrimental effect, too, and the scrum was shored up by the arrival of the similarly sizeable Edwin Edogbo 18 minutes later. Youngster Edogbo could become a key figure in providing two “tighthead lock” types.

But, clearly, there is also something going wrong with the development of props within the Irish system. The reliance on Healy, who played past his 37th birthday, reflected that; the recruitment of France’s Rabah Slimani by Leinster also. In terms of the four Irish United Rugby Championship sides, Ulster, Munster and Connacht all rank in the bottom six of sides across Europe for win percentage against the opposition scrum, per Opta.

The national team are also struggling – across 2025, they ranked bottom of the constituent teams of the Six Nations in terms of percentage of penalties won on their own feed (13 per cent). By comparison, England were at 27.3 percent in the calendar year.

Within that has also come a lack of Irish options. While Slimani has not featured quite as regularly this year, the tighthead, recalled to the French squad this week, played 23 times for Leinster last season amid Furlong’s injury issues. Samoa’s Michael Ala’alatoa and the 37-year-old John Ryan have started seven of Munster’s 11 URC games on the right side of the scrum, while the arrival of the world-class Angus Bell at Ulster has limited some loosehead opportunities there, even if the Australian is a superb signing.

While a condensed domestic structure can be an advantage in terms of cohesion, it can have drawbacks. Clarkson and England’s Joe Heyes are a year apart in age but the latter – incidentally Irish-qualified – has made 174 club appearances for Leicester to Clarkson’s 68 at Leinster. In last year’s U20 Six Nations, England’s Vilikesa Sela locked horns with Ireland’s Alex Usanov. Even in a Bath tighthead depth chart containing three regular Test starters, Sela has earned sufficient opportunities to force his way into Steve Borthwick’s squad; Usanov’s senior involvement so far amounts to 68 minutes across three appearances, including one for Ireland A. Plenty at Leinster think the former judo champion will go far, though.

All of this may be solvable. It was not that long ago that it was England facing questions over the efficacy of their set-piece, and relying on veterans Joe Marler and Dan Cole as short-term solutions. Their transformation since has been stark, with the scrum a bright spot from a gloomy trip to Murrayfield. Scrum coach Tom Harrison has prioritised being a “clean” unit and ensuring England “get to the contest”, rather than giving away penalties in the engagement process. Listen on the referee microphone and you will hear their front-rowers repeating that “get to the contest” mantra.

“I think control is a big one,” Heyes explained in November. “We want to be a ruthless scrum; we don’t want to be doing stupid things and giving away ridiculous penalties for overleaning or going too early.

“We’re much more self-disciplined in the way we go about it, we don’t give away those silly penalties or 50/50s. We’re focused on what we do, which is fundamentally what you should do if you want to make an improvement, look at it yourself. We’re trying to be that real good, clean scrum that is dominant. I think the last two/three years, everyone that has been playing in those games has been doing a good job at it.”

With the rise of contestable kicking leading to more chaotic aerial contests and knock-ons, a strong scrum is all the more important. England will fancy their chances of winning that contest on Saturday – the question will be if Ireland can respond after a difficult outing.