When teams talk about putting down a marker in a match, there can be no better way to do that than being dominant in the first scrum.
And as Scotland loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman and the other front-rowers train this week, they will be thinking about that moment in the game against Italy in their Guinness Men’s Six Nations opener on Saturday afternoon.
"Yeah, it's a big moment,” the 30-year-old with 37 caps replied when asked by TRU about the importance of the first scrum in any game of rugby.
“In the international games, in that moment, you can feel the whole stadium and you know that everyone's looking at this scrum and that all the focus is here.
“When you are getting ready for that first scrum, you have the referee and other external factors as well to think about like the pitch conditions and things like that, but the only thing you can control is how you've prepped.
“As a front-row unit, in a match you have to do what you said you were going to do in training and deliver in the big moments like that and take ownership of that scrum. As front-rowers, we look forward to it and know that doing well at that scrum can have a big bearing on a match.
“I would say the whole pack is so competitive. Peter [de Villiers, the former French cap and Scotland scrum coach] has done brilliant work with us.
“The amount of scrum conditioning that we do and scrum work that's been drilled into us via good habits in early part of the week training sessions is some of the unseen work that is important to get us ready for Test matches.
“It’s stuff like that which can help you gain the upper hand come game day I think it's paying dividends a lot. You learn a lot from scrumming against the big packs like South Africa, Australia, France and Ireland and you're better for that.
"So, I do think we can use our scrum as a weapon in the Six Nations and, as a pack, we just have to keep working hard in that area.”
‘That was totally unacceptable’: Scots wounded by last year’s defeat to Italy
Two years ago in the Six Nations, the Scots defeated Italy 26-14 with a bonus point at Murrayfield where they will meet in Round One this weekend.
However, last year, Italy won 31-29 in Rome and that result really hurt the Scots and stalled their progress.
“That was totally unacceptable, all of us felt that,” the South African-born Edinburgh Rugby man - who qualifies via residency - said.
“It’s always about how you bounce back. We showed that in the Ireland away game [Scotland were valiant in a 17-13 defeat]. We were not happy with the loss, don't get me wrong, but the performance you put in was fantastic.
“After such a dark line in the sand moment in Rome, mentally and physically we had to recover and in every Test match, you must be switched on for what's about to happen.
“We've learned our lessons. You always keep learning, but I feel we have to individually and collectively achieve and deliver now going forward.
“The biggest thing we've had to learn is being disciplined in key moments.”
‘It's a personal goal and a dream of mine’: Looking ahead to the Lions
There is always interest and intrigue in every round of Six Nations action, but that goes up a notch in a British & Irish Lions year.
“It must be,” Schoeman said when asked if the Lions trip in the summer to Australia will be on players’ minds over the coming weeks.
“Look, it's a personal goal and a dream of mine that I'm working for, but for me, sincerely, my job is to focus on the first test against Italy coming up.
“That's what will get you there, doing your job and doing it bloody well so as a prop, scrummaging, attacking and defending mauls, making big shots, carrying hard, being switched on for the team, working hard for the team, being selfless and putting your body on the line for the team are the only things I am thinking about.
“I think that'll give you the best opportunity to get on the Lions tour and it all has to start with how you train, how you prepare and how you play for Scotland.”
The Scotland matchday 23 to take on Italy is set to be named on Thursday.
.jpg "Henry Pollock, who was part of the England U20s set-up last term, scored two tries off the bench")
