You could be forgiven for thinking prop forwards are the only blokes who scrummage. The television cameras zoom into the scrum, the channel between the opposing front rows, as they set — or, as is often the case, reset. The scrum collapses for a first or second time. The referees and their assistants claim a complete understanding of what is happening and blow their whistles for free kicks and penalties.
“Those loose-heads coming in at an angle”. “That’s an easy infringement for us amateurs to spot”. Listen to the old props chatting and pick up the lingo as the TV director focuses on those most charismatic of rugby characters. The modern scrum seeks stability and with it, health and safety for the props. But still the scrums collapse and still the combatants either shake their heads in resignation or accept the pats on the back from incoming wings sprinting in to celebrate the penalty.
The penalty kick, if within 50 metres of the tryline, is booted as deep as possible into the infringing side’s 22-metre zone. Frequently, the eventual result is a try. The five-metre catch and drive leads to more scores than all the first-phase back moves put together from scrums and lineouts. Hookers make the headlines as they burrow their way over from behind the praetorian guard of props. Our heroes.
Given the scoring prowess of players like Dan Sheehan, the Ireland hooker, the grunt work of the second and back rows often go unnoticed by the casual eye
BEN WHITLEY/ALAMY
But is it really the loose and tight-head props who merit so much attention? The cameras, alas, cannot get into the actual scrum itself. If they could, we might all have a little more love for the second (and back) rows, who grunt and graft with everything they possess. Purists of the game like to talk about the tight-head locks . . . what the heck?
These are the men on the right side of the set piece endowed with apparently superhuman scrum powers. The “engine room” of the pack; the engines that help propel their front row into the headlines and the opposing pack into the dirt. And there’s few to match George Martin as a hard-scrummaging second row.
Martin has been making headlines since opting to leave Leicester Tigers — the club who developed him from academy to international — to join Saracens when his contract expires in the summer. The Tigers are said to be disappointed, and understandably so given their role in the making of a top-class player who has turned out only 15 times for them in the past two seasons. Loyalty isn’t what it once was.
Martin will still only be 25 by the time the Six Nations returns in February, and he has a chance to nail down a starting spot
DAN MULLAN – RFU/THE RFU COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES
Money talks. Leicester tacitly swear. Martin hopes he’ll be fit to play some time in January. And then he’ll slip into the England team. Shunting those scrums and, from the ensuing penalties, a lineout option from which Steve Borthwick’s team can send one of their hookers over for a try.
If he does muscle his way into the Six Nations side some time in 2026, he will be partnering his future Saracens team-mate, Maro Itoje, in the second row. The England captain, as far as second rows go, is Martin’s diametric opposite. He soars at the lineout, he positions himself over the ruck in ways that are both legal and eye-catching. He ranges around the field, larger than life.
They are contrasting characters on the rugby pitch; Itoje thrives in the spotlight, Martin makes mashed potato of opposing forwards, preferably away from the limelight. This past week, however, has earned him more headlines than he will garner for the rest of his career. But that is to underestimate why Saracens have spent a lot of money on a 24-year-old with nerve damage to his shoulder and a history of injuries. Mark McCall doesn’t strike me as a gambler, but Martin is a risk worth taking.
Martin and Itoje would complement each other well lining up together for England
DAN MULLAN – RFU/THE RFU COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES
One of the week’s themes has been the benefit, from Martin’s perspective, of playing week in, week out with the England captain. There are substantial benefits for Itoje too. If Martin is as potent a scrummager as the experts claim, then Itoje will be almost freed to bounce around the field, doing all those things he does best, while Martin pushes scrums and ensures his perpetual presence at and around the breakdown.
Martin’s willingness to do the grunt work will allow players around him to shine
CRAIG MERCER/MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES
In the 2023 World Cup semi-final, Itoje eclipsed Eben Etzebeth. The Springbok second row was removed from the action as early as the 46th minute with the match in the balance. The future England skipper, as he was then, received deserved accolades in defeat while Martin was praised for his physical commitment.
The South African scrum grew in dominance as England fans questioned the decision to remove their own props — Joe Marler and Dan Cole — in the 53rd and 56th minute respectively. Few mentioned the England scrum was quite possibly destabilised with Martin’s replacement, also in the 53rd minute.
Earlier this week, McCall referred to his new signing as a “back-five forward”. He tackles like a blind-side, but Saracens will surely ask him to perform in the engine room of the scrum and at the front of the lineout. The loss of Tom Willis to Bordeaux means Ben Earl will play No8 for club as well as country. Theo McFarland is a wonderful ball-handler and magnificent lineout forward, but the Samoan has none of Martin’s heft when asked to play second row.
McFarland at No6, Juan Martín González at open-side and Earl at No8 is quite some back row. With Martin shoving from the second row, Saracens will have a scrum to answer those who question Theo Dan in the set piece; a scrum to allow the venerable Jamie George, if not quite an armchair ride, then certainly some extra shunt from his right-hand side.
Saracens are rebuilding. Here’s the final foundation. Despite his injury background, Martin is an expensive risk worth taking.