SCRUMS are a set piece which highlight strength and power and for at least two of Central West Rugby Union's undefeated outfits this season, they are an attacking weapon as well.
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Blowes Clothing Cup competition leaders the Bathurst Bulldogs scored three times off the set piece in their latest win and on one occasion it came when rivals Dubbo Kangaroos had the feed.
Eight Bulldogs, working in unison, drove the Roos backwards and once within reach of the line, one of them picked up the ball and bullied their way over.
As much as Bulldogs coach Dean Oxley encourages free flowing, running rugby, he took plenty of pride in seeing his scrum dominate.
"Whenever there is a scrum, against any team, at this point we are very confident there is going to be some pressure applied whether we've got the ball or if they've got the ball," Oxley said. "I've played in Bulldogs teams where basically our scrum was on roller skates and it was very hard to attack from there, so it's nice to be on the other side of that. We've got a really strong platform."
In the women's Ferguson Cup competition, contested scrums are not a weekly occurrence given the rules allow teams to field a minimum of seven players.
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But when given the chance to pack down, the undefeated CSU outfit has a scrum which is certainly a weapon.
Under the guidance of former player Lizzie Butt, who has joined head coach Dom Huggett in preparing the students, CSU highlighted against Narromine how crucial their set play can be.
They differed to the Bulldogs in that after winning against the feed, they spread the ball quickly through their back line to stretch their opponents, opening gaps in their defensive line which were exploited.
"Our scrum - well I've never seen it like that. Realistically when we versed Narromine, those two or three scrums when we won off their feed and scored a couple of phases later, that's what won us the game," Huggett said.
"I am very happy with our scrum. We won against the feed four or so times ... when we get contested scrums again, that's something to look forward too. We'll use it to our advantage at every opportunity."
