Wales want Joe Marler to face the music if he scrummages at an angle at Twickenham on Saturday, aggrieved he got away with what they feel was illegal scrummaging against them last year.
Scrums have decreased in numbers over the years but not in significance. Since the referee Steve Walsh ruled heavily in Wales’s favour at the set piece in the 2013 Six Nations, French officials have controlled the three subsequent meetings with England and taken exception to the way Wales’s loosehead props scrummaged.
After last year’s World Cup meeting between England and Wales, the former international referee Jonathan Kaplan tweeted that Marler, England’s loosehead, was the offender on occasions when Wales were penalised. The issue has been raised with Saturday’s referee, the South African Craig Joubert, by the Wales management.
“Marler definitely needs to scrummage legally, otherwise we will be pointing a finger,” said the Wales forwards coach, Robin McBryde. Asked if he had seen a change in Marler’s technique since the World Cup, he replied: “It’s not for me to say. I probably have a biased opinion.
“We had good feedback after the World Cup and Marler got found out against Australia. We’ve come on a long way since then, not just the players but me as a coach. It’s one thing trying to appease the officials but we have to be careful we don’t leave ourselves exposed as well in that area.
“There was a big focus on the loosehead’s angle going into the World Cup. It was highlighted to us particularly with regards to Gethin Jenkins and Paul James and it was an area we focused on a lot. So it was very disappointing, especially against England, when we fell on the wrong sides of decisions believing the problem lay elsewhere.
“It’s very hard for me as a coach stressing the need to be legal in the scrum when the players are saying: ‘They are doing it and getting away with it. Why have we changed?’ The tables did turn somewhat in the game against Australia, but that’s on the day. Referees have a lot on their plate. All we can hope to do is build a relationship with Craig Joubert so we have a better understanding of where he is coming from and what he is looking at.”
One reason that Wales are bullish about the set piece is their scrummaging has become a weapon with the elevation of Rob Evans at loosehead prop above Jenkins. “Rob has not scrummaged better and we are in a good place there,” McBryde said.
The flanker Dan Lydiate said: “We are going into the game with confidence and so will England, with both of us unbeaten. There are areas of our game we have been working on and it would be nice to score a few more tries. We are just getting into our stride.”