Ben, careful — you’re analysing the scrum in slow motion as if the objective is to create a perfectly symmetrical picture.
It isn’t.
At Test level the scrum is a fight for centimetres. Ox gets half an inch, changes Lomax’s shape and suddenly the geometry belongs to him. Of course he takes it. That is scrummaging.
And New Zealanders should understand this better than almost anyone. Richard Loe, Olo Brown, Craig Dowd — those men weren’t waiting for an opponent to give them a perfectly legal, comfortable platform. They manipulated pressure, height, angle and timing, and if you gave them an edge they buried you with it.
There are laws, absolutely. Penalise something clearly illegal. But don’t confuse the existence of imperfection with cheating. Put every international scrum under slow-motion forensic analysis and you’ll find something technically questionable on both sides.
The real question is: why was Ox able to put Lomax there, and why couldn’t Lomax solve it?
That’s the fascinating technical discussion.
The dark art of front-row play isn’t learned frame by frame afterwards. It’s learned in real time, under 800kg of pressure, usually by getting fucked up repeatedly until you learn how not to get fucked up.
Ox found his centimetre. He took it.
Welcome to the front row. 😏
@Oom_Rugby I think the thing to keep in mind Oom, is how many of our "B Team" guys would be welcomed with open arms into many other international teams if they could take them.
@thabo_magaiva32@Oom_Rugby I agree with you 100%. However, do yourself a favour and read "Ordinary Men". It is truly terrifying what good people have done to other good people. And the decisions to carry out these acts weren't made instantaneously.