Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty has accused Wales of lacking the 'willingness to get into a contest' during their recent win in Cardiff, and says he's expecting a different test when his side take on France in Dublin this weekend.
Ireland's scrum was the source of great frustration during their narrow win over a rejuvenated Wales side in Cardiff last time out, with Fogarty's men conceding four penalties at the set-piece during the opening 40 minutes.
Hopes of a first Grand Slam in 2023 could well rest on how Ireland handle one of the heaviest and most threatening packs in the competition in France on Saturday, but the former prop appears confident there will be no repeat against Les Bleus.
Indeed, he insists an indulgence in the dark arts from Wales was largely behind Ireland's frustrations, which mainly arrived during the setup of the scrum and the engagement process. The Irish have sort feedback from officials to improve the situation this weekend, with Fogarty insisting Wales were "conceding on 'set' and looking for the ground".
"There are lots of different reasons why a scrum could collapse. Sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s not," he said.
"The scrum just seemed to go away from us, so we are trying to hit nice and hard, and the scrum just goes away, collapses on 'set’.
"The penalties came on ‘set’. Wales did a good job to show pictures but it’s not something we are concerned about at all.
"Very different picture this week, France are a very big pack, huge power in their pack, but they want to get to a contest. There is a willingness to get to a contest.
"If one side is pre-engaged and the other side isn't, you get this disjointed entry, which leads to movement and so on.
"So, with speaking to the referees, their focus is making sure that we get to a contest and that this space exists on ‘bind’. And there were times that didn't exist in the Welsh game.
"There were times when one side was in and the other side was out. It leads to movement, leads to messiness, leads to collapses. It's not good to watch. So we got some nice feedback around how that will look for us against France.
"It takes two teams and a referee to do it. So, Jesus, if it was straightforward, I probably wouldn't have a job!"
Tight and loosehead Andrew Porter and Tom Clarkson were both penalised twice each on the day as Ireland laboured to find a foothold, but Fogarty is confident there will be no repeat this time around.
"Some of the Welsh players were conceding on 'set' and looking for the ground. It becomes very, very difficult to keep a scrum up. If you want to collapse the scrum, it's quite easy.
"You look at the first two rounds with regards to the scrum, we were getting nice entries. We're in a contest and it's good to watch and we got some good outcomes."
In contrast, Wales scrum coach Adam Jones was full of praise for his side's efforts, particularly the performance of WillGriff John, who shone on his first Test since 2021.
“He was excellent," Jones said when quizzed on the 32-year-old's performance. "Will is someone I was aware of years ago, coming through.
“He did a good job with Sale. He came back to Wales to further his chances. It didn’t work out but he’s a big, strong boy. He’s probably the strongest in the squad, apart from myself.
“Going up against Porter, with how he scrummages, he was probably the guy to go against Porter. He’s pretty square. But not even that, he was pretty good around the field. He made tackles. He ran over (Dan) Sheehan once which gave us the gainline for Tom Rogers to score in the corner.
“I was pleased for him. He works mega hard. I’ve seen him for Sale recently. He was good for Sale in the Champions Cup against the Stormers. They lost but the scrum went well. So I’m pleased for him. He’s a lovely kid. He’s been around a bit now to find his mojo. No doubt he’ll do a good job this weekend."
