England 92 Samoa 3: Bern and Muir push props into the spotlight

“I don’t want to be shy about the fact that I want to be the best loosehead prop in the world and I want to cement that in this tournament. That was a good start, but I feel like I still have more than I can give,” she admitted with admirable honesty. What she said next about Ellie Kildunne’s player of the match award, however, was arguably more interesting.

“Obviously, the commentators love Ellie Kildunne didn’t they, she does all the good stuff,” Botterman continued, adding that the England props and hookers had “an ongoing joke” with Kildunne about the reigning world player of the year “robbing [us] of a couple of player-of-the-match awards” during the previous year’s Six Nations.

“She’s obviously a serious talent and does things no one else can do. If our scrum and maul platform can give her the space to be able to perform like she does, then who cares quite frankly,” Botterman added magnanimously, finishing on a diplomatic note. But there was a serious point there.

Front-rowers are so often overlooked for their scrummaging work when actually England’s dominant success over the past three years, not losing a single match since the last Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand, has been built on the back of a dominant pack even when the side have been trying to expand their arsenal by no longer solely relying on the scrum and maul.

Samoa were unable to handle England at the scrum yesterday in Northampton but then again no one really expected them, to given the gulf in preparation and facilities between the two sides off the field. An 80-point victory for England felt probable even after making 13 changes and with rain due. England won 92-3, their biggest win at a Rugby World Cup.

England’s 25th-minute try from a scrum against the head was a statement by the Red Roses pack. The power from Sarah Bern driving through Denise Aiolupotea, the neat, controlled footwork from Maddie Feaunati at the base to ground the ball in slippery conditions – those are outstanding moments of skill. No, that try did not lead the half-time highlights package on the BBC, but that was hardly a shock given that naturally attention tends to go towards finishes out wide or tries featuring multiple passes. We are all guilty of it.

In this case there was Jess Breach’s 50th try for England to analyse, the first of an eventual hat-trick, with Sue Day’s all-time record of 61 looming into view. Kildunne’s incredible assist to set up Breach’s try in Sunderland grabbed the headlines, but the work of England’s pack deserved to be rewarded with as much acclaim.

Even in this modern age where props like Botterman and Bern and Maud Muir are far more than just scrummagers, flinging out offloads and pouncing for turnovers at the breakdown, you are still judged by the power battle up front. John Mitchell, the England head coach, could have been measured about England’s scrum after that 69-7 thrashing of the USA to open the tournament, but where is the fun in that? When it came to that area, he was effusive.

“The scrum was outstanding. The scrum buried USA. Numerous penalties probably could have sent some players to the bin as well because of continued negativity in that area,” Mitchell said, and he was right. England are lucky at the moment to have the two best tightheads in the world. Surely the last thing Samoa wanted to see after 54 minutes, trailing 61-3, was Muir coming off the bench to replace Bern. Taytana Pati Ah-Cheung, trying to counterattack breaking into England's half, ended up on the end of a Muir dump tackle and then watched as Muir dispatched two of her team-mates with an effective counter-ruck.

Keep Botterman’s comments in mind and this fact, potentially, will shock you. In the 23-year history of World Rugby Awards, only one prop has even been nominated for player of the year in either the women’s or the men’s game. It was Bern, way back in 2019, making the women's game slightly better than the men’s at recognising front-row excellence, although only just.

At the end of last year it was difficult to understand how Ox Nche, the Springboks’s loosehead prop coming off an outstanding year with South Africa, failed to crack the men's shortlist for the player of the year award. How was Tadhg Furlong not nominated after an outstanding year with Ireland and the British and Irish Lions in 2017? Or South Africa's Frans Malherbe in 2019? There have been 117 nominations for the men's player of the year award and not even one men’s prop has made it.

Another thing about scrums? They can be rugby’s great leveller. A scrum penalty against England, given by referee Maggie Cogger-Orr for not driving straight, was cheered by the raucous Samoa supporters in the stands at Northampton more than any break or big tackle. Crucially it meant that Samoa avoided being “nilled” thanks to Harmony Vatau's penalty, their first and only points of the tournament so far.

Botterman merely hinted at frustration with front-rowers being overlooked but it deserves to be acknowledged. The skill-set and strength work required to be a top-level scrummager, combined with having to contribute around the field as a distributor, jackaller, tackler and, sometimes, try-scorer too is immense.

Frankly, we should all be giving the importance of the scrum, and the work done by front-rowers in both the women’s and men’s game, far more credit than we currently do. The next generation of Bottermans and Berns and Muirs are just as important as the Kildunnes and Scarratts. If England do end up winning this tournament on 27 September at Twickenham, you can bet their props and scrum will have played a major part in that success.

Photograph by Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images