Writing in his column in The Guardian, Shaun Edwards is concerned at the spate of injuries in the scrum.
"Time to return to the world of the front rows and the scrum. Not something I'm immediately at home with, as I've said before, but it's an issue that fascinates and is becoming a major concern.
"In the past week England have lost their first-choice loose-head prop, Andrew Sheridan, and their tight-head, Phil Vickery. Both needed operations after scrums collapsed. Both will return, but they will be out of the game long enough to miss the autumn internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand. As was chronicled here yesterday, Vickery and Sheridan are just two among the many not available to Martin Johnson when he names his revised squad next week, but it is injuries in the scrum that have a particular worry and, as those with a decent memory will know, this is a subject I've written about before.
"Back in April I wrote: "Phil Vickery recently said that when the front row goes down, as it seems to more and more, he feels his fate is in the lap of the gods. And if a guy like that, with all his experience, feels he is powerless to protect himself, then surely something is wrong." Now after talking to many more front-row specialists, I feel even more strongly that the scrum, and particularly "the hit", is an issue that has to be addressed rapidly."
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