Mckenzie's Forward Focus Reaping Rewards

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday March 6, 2006

Ben Kimber

NSW fans were treated to a sight they have not seen in many years from any Australian pack against the Sharks on Saturday, domination in all facets of forward play.

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie was pleased with his pack's effort and indicated supremacy up front is a long-term goal for NSW.

"There's no question that there's been a focus [in Australian rugby] about getting parity [in the forwards] and then having the edge in the backs," McKenzie said. "I've definitely tried to improve the edge in the forwards here. Steve Tuynman has been fairy central in that, and recruitment of the right type of players is important.

"But we've had a program probably the last 18 months of trying to improve the contribution of the forwards, particularly in attack, and I think you saw bits and pieces of that against the Sharks.

"The abilities in the driving play and things like that, the ability to not only compete but to actually use that as an attacking part of the game. We've been trying to do that for some time. It hasn't been natural in Australian rugby but if you've got a sort of a parity approach to things then it gets pushed back in terms of training and things, but we've definitely tried to elevate that."

That underrated approach to forward play was most evident in last year's end-of-season Wallabies tour with a number of matches that eventually spelled the end of coach Eddie Jones's tenure, with McKenzie's comments a veiled criticism of the former national coach's approach.

The Wallabies forward pack was smashed during their four-match tour, in particular against England and Wales.

Waratahs props Al Baxter and Matt Dunning, in particular, came under fire from all angles, and it seems the long road back to confidence and more than competence is underway.

McKenzie noted the positive ball the NSW scrum earned against the Sharks, whose front row significantly outweighed the Waratahs, and indicated it had changed his team's abilities to attack.

"We actually got some front foot ball in the scrum in the first half, the scrum going forward and actually playing from it, which Whits [halfback Chris Whitaker] would attest to," McKenzie said. "There's nothing better as a halfback than getting ball as the scrum [goes forward]."

McKenzie also noted the impact of loosehead prop Benn Robinson, both in terms of his scrummaging and work around the field in tandem with hooker Adam Freier who continues to improve this year.

"[Robinson] adds that pick and drive part of his game and if you couple him with Freier, both those two guys did a good job of keeping us on the front foot," McKenzie said. "And that was probably a significant difference this game to the other games. It wasn't perfect but our forwards took more responsibility in attack and getting us over the advantage line.

"It just gave us the ability to play on the front foot. How we use the ball from there was better but not as good as it could be, but some of that is just cohesion."

More tests await this NSW pack, who have yet to lock in the rock-solid consistency required if they are to become a dominant force, but Saturday's effort against the Sharks was the most promising yet.