It will not be fondly remembered as a highlight of the season, but last Friday’s gritty victory for Glasgow Warriors over Scarlets in torrential rain at Scotstoun certainly got Al Dickinson’s juices flowing.
Warriors have been widely praised this season for their free-flowing brand of rugby, and the importance of having a solid platform to launch an ambitious attacking game can often be overlooked, so scrum coach Dickinson was delighted that his area of responsibility was front and centre of this vital win, which booked a home draw in the URC play-off quarter-finals.
“Nights like that are always going to be a scrum-fest, which is great for me as a scrum coach,” smiled the former Scotland prop. “It’s not easy having 34 scrums in a game – the average is about 16 – so the boys did well and found a way.
“I was really pleased for them, because we still haven’t had our best 80-minute scrummaging performance, but we’re getting there.
“At the start of the year, we were probably a little bit hit or miss with the forwards, but we’ve been working hard and hopefully we’re seeing the fruits of our labour.
“From a scrum point of view, a lot of things were quite pleasing about the Scarlets game. We managed to get a few dominant scrums. You only really notice it in games like that, but it [the scrum] has a bearing on every match you play because it is a really effective way of putting the other team under pressure.
“If you get it right and can be dominant within the rules then the knock-on effect of that can be huge, not just for the forwards but the rest of the team.”
Scotland have a raft of experienced internationals to choose from in their front row, including Zander Fagerson, Simon Berghan and Enrique Pieretto at tight-head prop, and Jamie Bhatti, Allan Dell and Oli Kebble at loose-head. However, Dickinson pointed out that some less recognisable names have started stepping up in recent weeks, including South African-born former Scotland Under-20s man Nathan McBeth, who managed just eight bench appearances in his first two seasons at the club but has played in 15 matches during this campaign.
“He’s come here, got the head down, really worked hard and is really pushing for selection which is exactly what you want from a youngster,” said Dickinson. “All the players are now getting pushed, not just by the coaches but by each other. That’s where we’re at and that’s what we want. Competition brings out the best.”
