John Drake: The lowdown on front row life

Sorting the facts and the fiction about what really happens in the front row is a bit like the way politicians communicate.

It is not exactly the whole truth, but not totally lies either, somewhere in between. How far either way is for you to figure out, not the messenger.

So let's go through a few basics, and please remember that at scrum time, for every statement of fact there is an equally compelling counter-claim.

The whole idea is to have a stable platform on your own put-in, giving you a great chance to attack either by forward moves or out to the backs.

On the opposition put-in you are trying to destroy any chance they may have of getting any quality ball.

So you can see why things start to get messy. The referee is added to the mix and we could assume that he should be penalising the side not putting the ball in as they are the ones causing the trouble, right?

Not quite, as often the side with the put-in will fake distribution because either they are not settled, or the other side has got the better of them and they want to start the scrum again.

To have a stable scrum you require as little movement as possible sideways, up, down and, heaven forbid, backwards. To achieve this the tighthead (right prop) must anchor the other guys to his spot. To do this he must get as low as possible while maintaining his balance and keeping his back straight and parallel to the ground.

How low can the tighthead get and why?

Anything from 25cm off the ground is acceptable.

The best can go lower, but is it not recommended for the faint of heart.

Why so low?

The lower he is, the harder it is for the opposition scrum to move him off his anchor. The scrum naturally wheels left side up and right side down, so the poor tighthead has to work harder to stop this natural effect.

There are other ways to stop this natural wheel, but they are against the rules, so I couldn't possibly comment.

Over on the loosehead (left prop) side, the prop is trying to keep the scrum stable and give his hooker as much protection and help as possible. Again, a low scrum is required for the same reasons as the other side.

Remember, most scrums last not more than 5 to 7 seconds after engagement, so a lot happens in a very short time.

The opposition, meantime, is hoping a variety of tactics will lead to the destruction of the quality ball.

Some useful tactics are one or a combination of the following:

* The straight push over the opposition scrum is great for morale and can destroy opponents physically and mentally.

It is hard to achieve against most teams and rarely successful at top-class level - although Australia are helping it to regain popularity.

* More subtle is the half turn and push. This is achieved by either pulling back one side of the scrum and/or pushing up the other.

* Another effective method is the complete wheel, where the whole scrum attempts to spin at least 90 degrees.

All except the straight push are considered cheating or at least poor form by the authorities, so players have to camouflage these acts. Most good front-rowers would make at least B-grade movie actors, such is their acting ability in front of the officials.

So it can be pretty confusing for everyone but the guys in action.

However, in my experience a dominant scrum will not need to cheat on their own put-in to the scrum. Why would they bother? A dominant scrum is equally likely to mess up the other's ball without too many foul plays.

Some refs like to keep things even, which some say is a shame. I go further and say a disgrace.

Thankfully, the likes of Jonathan Kaplan have allowed the strong to prosper and not protect the weak.

A rugby nation not far from these shores survived Super 14 and international level for a few years with poor technique and personnel at scrum time due to benevolent officials and interpretation.

Fortunately this has passed and the likes of Tony Woodcock and Carl Hayman can show their full range of skills just as Kevin Skinner, Ken Gray, Kent Lambert, Steve McDowell and Olo Brown did before them.

The scrum is truly a great treasure, if still a little difficult to figure out who are the good and bad guys.

* Tighthead prop John Drake played eight tests for the All Blacks.