Rugby: 'Gentlemanly' Argentines a challenge, says Cole

Dan Cole was in the scrum that took England to victory over Australia. Photo / NZPA

The rugby lexicon is full of blood-curdling adjectives relating to life in the front row, cruel and horrible being among the milder ones.

Yesterday, the England tight-head prop Dan Cole came up with a new and surprising offering as he girded his loins for this weekend's brutally hard set-piece contest with Argentina at Twickenham. How do they go about their scrummaging? "In a gentlemanly way," he said.

Come again? If you listened carefully, you could hear dozens of heavily bristled lantern jaws hitting the floor as tight forwards the world over were left wondering what the hell Cole was on about.

Those long-standing members of the front row union who had the misfortune to tangle with Diego Cash, Patricio Noriega, Roberto Grau, Mauricio Reggiardo, Omar Hasan or Rodrigo Roncero might have been charmed by their opponents chivalrous behaviour during after-match drinks, but during the match itself? Please.

"What I mean by this," said the test Lion from Leicester, "is that they scrummage with a certain pride, a certain sense of honour.

"They don't like cheating. To the Pumas, the scrum is a pushing contest where the unit going back loses. The Italians have taken it on board to some extent, and its always been there in French rugby. But for the Argentines, it's such a major point in their game and they're good at it."

Very good. Take a look at the footage from the Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship and see them shoving the All Blacks around.

Cole was a part of England's starting front-row combination that laid the most solid of foundations for the victory over Australia four days ago and, like his colleagues and fellow Lions, the loosehead prop Mako Vunipola and hooker Tom Youngs, he was well pleased with that aspect of the performance.

Argentina may not pose a Wallaby-like threat in the backline as Juan Martin Hernandez, the Maradona of rugby, is off-limits through injury.

"Things are harder under the new protocols," Cole continued, referring to recent changes to the set-piece process that force props to bind before engagement and then use their strength and technique to establish superiority once the ball is fed.

"You're in there longer, there's more going on. The way the scrum is now, it probably suits the Argentines more than anyone else. They were never massive on the old long-range hit engagement: it was always about what goes on after the engagement with them. To the Pumas, scrummaging is a matter of will."

Graham Rowntree, the former England prop who now coaches the red rose forwards, believes the Pumas will scrum long at Twickenham.

"The stats tell us that on average, their scrum lasts eight and a half seconds - a good two seconds longer than most others," he said yesterday.

"We scrum long ourselves sometimes: we do it to tire opponents out, to hold the back-rowers in, to free up space later in the game. It's a big statement for a pack to make, so we'll have to match the Argentines there.

"If they want that battle, its up to us to accept the challenge."

- Independent