Front row size discrepancy

Question
Nick, I'm looking for a second opinion. My son's school wants him to play at tight-head prop. He's 6'3", 15 years old, 165 pounds. They want him to play prop because he 'looks big'. Quite apart from the mental attitude you need to play tight-head (which he doesn't have), he is a full 12 inches taller than the hooker and the loose-head, meaning that once they are packed down, his hips/pelvis stick out a foot further into the second row. The lock behind him is consequently forced to pack squint and of course the drive is then not flat and forward, but skewed to one side (in the course of which it twists my son's back).

In essence, my question is - especially in junior rugby - do you agree that it's important that the props are broadly speaking of similar height, to protect backs and necks and to keep the scrum balanced and straight?

Answer
High Euan. That is a tough one. A tall prop is not all bad if the coach is well versed in the technique needed to get a scrum right. It sounds like the lock is the one not doing a great job. It also seems like your son should be a lock.

I can't really say without seeing the situation but if you son is not enjoying the position and if the position is not working out to the benefit of the team as a whole then a change seems to be needed.

Take a good look at the link below and see if some better skills can't be put into place.

Long story short technique will overcome this issue as even a shorter / same size front row can have these problems if not using the correct technique.

Srummaging:

My favourite: http://www.coachingrugby.com/rugby/coaching/unitskills/scrum/buildingthescrum.ht...

http://www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/scrum.pdf

http://www.texasyouthrugby.com/download/748/docs/Building_the_scrum