England players amazed by winger's scrum effort

Wed, Nov 30, 2016, 1:00 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
Jonny May is a great finisher, but his scrummaging leaves something to be desired. Photo: Getty Images
Jonny May is a great finisher, but his scrummaging leaves something to be desired. Photo: Getty Images

England winger Jonny May won’t be packing down in the scrum again anytime soon and it’s a move his teammate say is for the best.

May’s attempt at scrummaging when England went two men down against Argentina last Saturday, lit up social media with the promising winger struggling to bind in the flanker spot after England found itself two men down.

England fullback Mike Brown said the clip made for good viewing post-match.

“He can't have watched much rugby or scrums in rugby games to be binding the way he was binding. That's just Jonny,” he laughed.

“Interesting technique, don't think it'll be one that they'll be using going forward but it made us laugh anyway.

 

A winger's introduction to the scrum.

A video posted by rugby.com.au (@rugbycomau) on


“That's a good question - who actually put him on the scrum in the first place? - Mike Brown.

“Because he would be the last person I would put on a scrum. That's who needs to answer some questions I think.”

Halfback Ben Youngs couldn’t quite belive what he was seeing last weekend.

“Unbelievable isn’t it? What’s he doing? It’s madness! He needs to get on the scrum machine,” - Ben Youngs.

“Poor old Mako [England prop Mako Vunipola] was a little bit confused when he saw Jonny’s head pop between his legs. Luckily we got the ball in and out.

“He’s taken a bit of heat. It’s amazing that he’s played rugby all his life but he doesn’t know where his head’s supposed to go when he plays seven. That’s Jonny for you.

“Scrummaging’s not his forte but give him the ball on the edge of the pitch and he’ll finish for you. If he keeps doing that, I’m sure the front-row will forgive him.”

Brown jokingly likened May to a puppy, with the way he acts around the England camp.

“He's probably like a puppy, really enthusiastic bounding around, desperate to show his energy, his enthusiasm and learn but you have to keep him on a tight leash sometimes, give him direction, well that's what I reckon,” he said.

“He's a brilliant player, ball in hand, he can finish tries that others can't. He's electric running wise, a brilliant player to have.”

England has won 13 Tests in a row, with a win over the Wallabies equaling the best run in their history.

Brown said there was no chance of complacency creeping in to the team, despite their record.

“I don't believe that this team would ever let that creep in because of the squad of players we have, how desperate we are to achieve things, the senior players we have in the camp,” he said.

“If we feel that something like that was creeping in to an individual or a group of players, I think we'd squash that pretty quick and we all know as individuals that if we allow things like that to affect us, someone will be desperate to take our position because of the strength and depth we have.

“We're all desperate to achieve things here and I don't really think that danger will happen here.

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