ANDREW SHERIDAN BREAKS AUS SCRUM | RWC 2007 ENG v AUS

2007 Rugby World Cup, Quarter Final 1. England Australia ALL SCRUMS. Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France.
England Starting Tight-Five: Sheridan-Regan-Vickery-Shaw-Kay
Australia Starting Tight-Five: Dunning-Moore-Shepherdson-Sharpe-Vickerman
I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE FOOTAGE

[@sheppast]

04:20 is quite astonishing strength from Sheridan. Aussie forward goes early, he takes it on his heels and still manages to force him back immediately.

[@iambeowulf9325]

Alain Rowland doing his absolute best to not give scrum penalties to England in possibly one of the most dominant scrum performances of the professional era in tier one rugby. And only Alain Rowland could penalise the team going forward! How this bloke ever had a career as a ref is beyond me.

[@timmo491]

Rolland hated and still hates England. French Irish hybrid cheat.

[@tomkeating5178]

he's Irish there's your answer

[@wrightyy]

He was fine in the first half of his career. He started to go off kilter around here. He was useless!

[@dazeng4633]

Only surpassed by the disgraceful performance of Andre Watson in the 2003 WC final. He actually tried to penalize England out of the cup. How he's never been criminally investigated for that is testament to how corrupt officials can be. Disgusting

[@phil-zz5hk]

alain was the problem . there was no way he was going to give englang nowt .

[@shearer567]

That England forward pack was gigantic definitely one of the biggest of all time.

[@tofinobeach7093]

You know when the ref is having a shocker when the aus commentator says he's not doing too bad a job

[@purenrg4life]

I played schoolboy rugby alongside Nick Easter (we were the locks) and had Sheridan at #8 behind us (Dulwich 1st XV in 95/96).. Andrew was 15 playing 3 years above his age group and was already by far the biggest bloke in the team.. he was a gentle giant and used to talk about when he was gonna hit his growth spurt.. which we all laughed at.. but I guess we shouldn't have! Is great to see what they both went on to achieve. I wish I had even been a 10th as good as them at rugby!! :)

[@oliversmiddy840]

He was in my year (and used to copy my Latin homework!). Lovely bloke. Exhausted all the weights in the school gym (i.e. ran of plates). Absolute unit.

[@vicjones3992]

I was at that match in Marseilles Sheridan destroyed Australia - but those aussie props were hardly proficient or hard Dunning in particular was a roly-poly pudding

[@oliverhunter9495]

@@vicjones3992 Dunning could drop a goal though.

[@markhamer7220]

Ah the days when England could scrummage.

[@Waywind420]

Playing schoolboy rugby with Sheridan and Easter in the pack...i bet your team dominated everyone.

[@loluntilmypie]

2:03 Sheridan's just like "what the hell kind of scrum you watching, sir?"

[@alanfarley3888]

Played 18yrs as a front rower....... loved every minute 👍🏻

[@bulltraderpt]

Great vid. I remember watching this live, they just couldn't cope with Sheridan.

[@romfordmobbsy]

Andrew Sheridan and Simon Shaw break Aus scrum... What a pair!

[@peteharry351]

Australia were trying to get to uncontested scrums. Manshamed throughout. Sheridan was monstrous. Shame he didn't get more caps.

[@agnostic47]

Injury prone. He was so strong he almost pulled himself apart.

[@wrightyy]

Weren't they trying to collapse it but he was strong enough to hold them up? Which is incredible.

[@cameconomou7037]

He broke Dunnings neck in this match

[@drchrisdavies2941]

It was one of Englands heaviest packs with several players 120kg or over including Sheridan (128), Vickery (125), Shaw (123) and Kay (120). The lightest of the forwards being Mark Regan at 100kg. The average pack weight was well over 18stone!!

[@vicjones3992]

Worsley came on near the end and nearly cost us the game by giving away his usual penalty

[@oliverhunter9495]

That’s some feat as England have always produced huge packs.

[@alundavies1016]

I played with Kay briefly at Waterloo before he moved to Leicester. He wasn’t quite as heavy back then, but still pretty big. I was his Prop and remember the joy he was to lift! I don’t think I had to put much effort in until he was a couple of feet off the ground. Played a few games with him, he used to send his England stash back to the club, great kit bags of the stuff, nice lad.

[@wrightyy]

Appearing in the final in 2015 papered over the cracks for Australian rugby. The signs were there in 2007.

[@allyliddiard7320]

I enjoyed this RWC run to the final more than 2003. The expectation we put on Johnson's team was nigh on unbearable, 2007 was essentially Vets On Tour.

[@darthmaul408]

A great match. Watching it live was immense, particularly as everyone had written England off.

[@spitfire451]

I have no idea what game the commentators where watching????? They got tanned time after time. Roland was also a shame...... He was nothing more than a disgrace. The English 8 absolutely smashed The aussies.... And this is from a proud Welshman.... This should be played to the up and coming youth. This shows true commitment and teamwork. Sheridan, world class 🙂🙂🙂

[@BigAidsIII]

Like it was yesterday. He was immense that day. Immense. Aussies thought they were into him and he just dominated the whole thing.

[@humphrey4976]

Simon Shaw was a machine

[@mathieuguillet4036]

I had forgotten just how long Gregan played. What a legend!

[@wingcommanderdaltonwalton67]

He was waiting for the Aussies to win a scrum before he retired.

[@zed1207]

Watching the Australian tellytubbies getting stomped that hard has been one of the highlights of my rugby fan career.

[@malcolm9650]

The way the scrums used to engage is pretty fkn mental when you think about it. Not for the fainthearted, especially the front row. Nutters

[@rvh4034]

Yeah in the older era it was even worse! Crazy times

[@leonrobinson2053]

As a rugby fan, this is beautiful. Nothing like utter domination to get you ready for Saturday

[@DH-gg6jx]

It wasn't easy to contain Sheridan back then. He was a monster. Hayman coped with him and I seem to remember DeVilliers doing well in the SF - which was surprising as he was tiny in comparison. Even the big lads of SA struggled in the final against him.

[@royw-g3120]

Sheridan could bench press over 500lbs. In good shape obviously but he was one of those naturally strong freaky people, add that to a 6'5" frame and he is a handful for any opponent on any day.

[@theoldplankwoodworks2415]

If this were today the Wallabies would be playing with a few lads in the bin...absolutely rinsed

[@paulbailey4231]

nobody is allowed to pack like that anymore so it's a pointless comment

[@theoldplankwoodworks2415]

Paul Bailey the problems didnt come on the engagement Sheridan was just too strong ...

[@samdowns4029]

England only dominant when they don't bind. Whenever they were forced to bind they lost. Should have been penalised.

[@SuperNictastic]

And Sheridan would have been off the field for failing to bind every time.

[@dancarter9789]

Some awful decisions from the ref. Sheridan has his opposite number on toast throughout and rarely gets the penalty for it.

[@yoe91]

+Dan Carter wow... Dan Carter himself.

[@dancarter9789]

Well, technically yes, but also no. That is my name but I am not the Dan Carter.

[@MrToikey]

Was there, couldn't believe the ref thought England were collapsing the scrum. He realised eventually

[@celticwarrior1365]

Sheridan was an immense scrummager and probably the strongest player at that time!

[@thebaron5206]

He still went down when Julian White chinned him though!😂

[@hphenderson85]

You can see why scrum laws have changed, that engage gap generates some hitting power. Impact on the neck/head is real.

[@zw5509]

More fun that way.

[@hphenderson85]

@@zw5509 my neck is bad enough I dont think I'd handle this 🤷‍♂️

[@zw5509]

@@hphenderson85 Oh, I did for many years and loved it. Dark arts zone.

[@jaiguy6962]

'Dark arts zone' , well put

[@connormccarthy8029]

Lots of collapses too

[@schnozz87]

Engagements were brutal back then...

[@hohum2722]

I was playing SW 1 at the time. I was still so sore on Tuesday training that I found turn around to look right to get out my driveway almost impossible.

[@schnozz87]

@@hohum2722 rough mate. It was all about who could hit and hold back then. Fuck that for a game of soldiers, I stayed in the back row where I could opt out of getting my neck broken!

[@bspaet]

@@schnozz87 As a prop in the 80's I dislocated my neck. totally paralyzed initially. after 4 months in the hospital and 4 months in rehab I walked out albeit with a limp. I got off lucky with only some nerve damage but enough to end my career at 20 and without the ability to run again. Very close to being as quad. Brutal in those days. Gives me the willies watching this to see how much force is generated and why they didn't change it earlier after many broken necks. You see one shot of a guy getting a stinger. .

[@tastewithjase]

Good grief. I remember this like yestrerday but I don't remember it being so chaotic. The game has changed so much

[@stuartdavis9533]

Sheridan was an absolute legend - I never understood why he never got the recognition that his physical prowess and skill deserved. As a Welsh rugby fan, I always hoped that a "Welsh Grandmother", could have been found, before he was capped by England. What a fantastic player!

[@sambeckingsale2542]

Couldn't scrum. Coupd.only ever be a 7 out of possible 10 due to his body type. Incredibly humble man that hated being blown up in the media. Never sat well with him.

[@Steve50663]

sam beckingsale he could scrum you tool he destroyed the wallaby scrum

[@Steve50663]

sam beckingsale and what you mean by being blown up in the media, your grammar is crap

[@dazeng4633]

@@sambeckingsale2542 eh?

[@dazeng4633]

I know mate. He was a friggin monster for us. Unfortunately played during a really shambolic period of RFU mismanagement. That was a far better group of players than results suggested. Badly needed a good coach. Had too many dinosaurs left over running them

[@73North265]

I remember reading an article from the Australian just before this match which literally said the Aussies just need to turn up to beat England. Never been so pleased by a win!

[@yoe91]

tbf, Australia were pretty damn good and England had just suffered that 36-0 loss to the Boks. It felt like there was a real distance betw NH and SH teams. But England outlasted them still. I still think it's amazing this ENG team made it to a RWC final, credit to them.

[@73North265]

@@yoe91Not to mention that England had looked awful throughout the pool matches. However the Aussie media was at its particular worst just prior to this match. Whilst we were behind for a lot of the match, I recall thinking at the time we had them and were definitely going to do it. I got that feeling the next match when Thion had to go off early and Seabass came on much sooner than he would do normally and it really drew the sting of the French. Just goes to show that you really only need a couple of good matches and you are in the final (remember France in 2011 too)

[@newspaper9949]

Marc what fun ahaha

[@anfieldreds5027]

@@kmay4963 Australia will have one of the best scrum in the next world with Tupou, Uelese and Belt. They always had a good backline. The last world cups were all won by SH teams.

[@Nervybear]

@@kmay4963 As long as you do not have dominance over us, you will not win the World Cup. We are your Achilles heel...not NZ or AUS. For that to happen though, you need to physically dominate us and that will not happen and nullify our set pieces.

[@jimwocha4949]

Sheridan, Regan, Vickery. Probably our best front row ever.

[@jimwocha4949]

So were every other team! The Boks have long since had the best front 3 in world rugby and probably best 8 if truth be told.

[@spencerclark5440]

Woodman. Thompson, Vickery with Leonard off the bench for me.

[@mushimi_]

@FOMO FUD Boks were strife with roids

[@mushimi_]

@FOMO FUD lmfao denying it is just cringe, it's still going on today

[@mushimi_]

@FOMO FUD ????? i'm not kiwi lol

[@DominicPannell]

I don't know if any rugby ref understands the scrum, but Sheridan was magnificent in this match and destroyed the Aussie pack. I posted a photo in my office at the time - I'm sure the Aussie prop was in tears... and I don't blame him. Sheridan at that time was horribly powerful. And knew his game.

[@bashab3098]

I was at this match drove 700 miles to see it , in the first twenty minutes the myopic ref gave no decisions to england , was worried but we battered them , you could see fear in the Aussies eyes .

[@connormccarthy8029]

That tight head consistently engaged early and still couldnt get the upper hand

[@jameswilson1984]

'The Aussies say we are up for it today son....' Up for what? Collapsing the scrum every time? Aussie number 1 turning in on the hit on the first 4 scrums, doubt he knows how to spell the words 'drive straight.)

[@dazeng4633]

Years ago when they did that intentionally, the other front row were almost expected to give them a good hiding. That stopped the bastards collapsing the scrum.

[@ThomasTheWankEngine1]

Big Jason comes on and doesn't fight it... He accepts the "push"... He succeeds... Clever, clever...

[@markhamer7220]

Sheridan had thar Aussie prop for breakfast,lunch and dinner

[@tonygoodwin2834]

Rest in Peace Dan Vickermann

[@andybutler4827]

I do not miss reset after reset, at the time I never realised how bad these scrums were. The gap coupled with the lack of a bind made it almost impossible to keep the scrum up.

[@sheffieldify]

The Italians have renaissance art, the French have cuisine, the English have scrumming

[@dougclark9921]

Miss the days when the ball went in almost straight and the scrum didnt take 10 minutes to set up, collapse three times and then back slapping all around.

[@nathanwilliams2152]

This was one of our best world cups given how we came back from some poor performances in the pool stages. This is where 10-man rugby works, when teams are almost playing not to lose. Matt Dunning, Guy Sheperdson and later Al Baxter got absolutely monstered in this game by our front row, although Alain Rolland didn’t lay down the law of the scrum early enough imho.

[@nathan113]

I loved this World Cup felt like a proper underdog story for us, just a shame it had to end with Cueto's try being in my opinion wrongfully disallowed

[@StangV2]

​@@nathan113the line is out. No try. 😂

[@thebaron5206]

A period of very poor Australian front rows, Dunning and Baxter may have offered other things but in their core role as scrum props they were poor.

[@maxwellfan55]

Some big mean boys in that English scrum. Protection on a night out in town!

[@dbjmk8083]

Man scrummaging in this era was a mess, you see Sheridan basically forced into a good morning with the scrum as the load on his spine its a wonder more of these guys didn't break their backs. The scrum is still a mess today but looking here I can see it's improved.

[@Alex-mj5dv]

Back when the hit was brutal - front rowers now don’t know how easy they have it 😉😆

[@mcteste]

So Sheridan isn't binding and shoving too early. I know rules have changed, but surety even in 2007 he was giving away a penalty every scrum.

[@busybody3591]

Wish we had him now!

[@gordonferrar7782]

What a performance this was.

[@davsavchav]

One of my favourite scrum battles was Carl Hayman vs Andrew Sheridan when England played New Zealand in 2005

[@zed1207]

It's such a shame Sheridan didn't add more in the loose game. He could be a supreme in the scrum.

[@toiletsmithy3630]

Hayman smashed him

[@robbdavies7749]

He was a big and strong, hard as nails

[@ardiusfidelis6568]

It's obvious the Australian front rows want to play rugby without scrums. They were driving the scrum down all the time. Right in front of the referees!!

[@davidflavin]

Tbh I'm grateful for all the new scrum rules when I see this.

[@darthmong7196]

That's what England lack these days. They have great ball-players in the front row but need a killer scrummage. Sheridan was titanic but don't underestimate the value of Simon Shaw in the second row. Good to see Allain Rolland got there in the end.

[@eddiedevereoxford4995]

Shaw was one of England's best, in my opinion. Better than Johnson by a mile.

[@darthmong7196]

@@eddiedevereoxford4995 really amazing that Shaw never really held down a regular spot. I mean he had a 15-year internation career so still won 71 caps, but it was nearly always when other guys got injured. But Johnno was something else. He had a presence you could feel if you were on the pitch with him.

[@rogerwilliamcoates5724]

Don't know what people are seeing here, but what strikes me is both England and Oz just collapsing and getting re sets. One positive scrum that could have gone to either side, but nothing to write home about. I remember, at the time the press making a big deal about him, but never saw enough down under to be impressed.

[@janhbhugo5085]

Oh that was a long long time ago anything to help today's situation !

[@basilguts1786]

Spent a bit of time down under years ago,a few things Australia doesn’t understand are: fried bread,patience and scrummaging.👍

[@agnostic47]

Aussie coach reading England's selection to his team. "At loose head... Sheridan" Aussie tight head "Oh shit"

[@nicholaswood3063]

God I'm glad they have almost sorted this out....how many dropped scrums?

[@scottgoodfellow4741]

The only thing dunning could hold up was a branch of Burger King

[@martinaaron609]

What a tedious spectacle. What percentage of that 80 mins was spent resetting and retaking collapsed scrums?

[@steviecbf]

the MOST crooked rugby ref ever to take to the field.

[@SuperBlackted]

Classic England, a dominant scrum and a ten with a boot. I mean that in the most respectful way.

[@ashishd380]

Lol be honest it's the boring way

[@mygoogle1482]

highlights how poor reffing at scrummage was, very dangerous, aussies backout out or collapsing puts english front row necks in real danger. This video nasrty reveals AR to be poor at scrummage he took 50 mins to work out what was happening, penalising the wrong team intially repeatedley!! It seems refs are improved, but its still a bit of a lottery at scrum time as to what ref sees.

[@myoriginalmusic6739]

Sheridan was like a tree trunk

[@ccw5886]

Sorry, this ref is biased in favour of the Ozies here. Its clear to me that the continued resetting is not required. Clear fault with Oz scrum

[@matthias2756]

Poor Aussie commentary

[@roryslaine7896]

As much as they dominated at scrum and set piece wasn't this match still extremely close? Didn't it hinge on a Stirling Mortlock missed penalty?

[@tonyb67984]

Alain roland AWFUL refereeing of the scrum, Sheridan destroyed the Wallabies ...refereeing at it's very worst

[@lazarddiankson1400]

I'm not a front rower but this was poor refereing of the scrum by the ref.

[@alanrickett2537]

Love at 7.40 the aus commentator the ref was on there side at the scrum

[@MrPietrasantino]

Sheridan was a handy boxer! Not only was he a giant, he could box!

[@thewomble1509]

Not as well as Julian White...................He floored Sheridan with an absolute beauty in a club game.

[@thebaron5206]

Julian White was better, butJulian was different gravy in a lot of respects! Would have been interesting to see White playing opposite Etzebeth or Botha, definitely fireworks to be expected!

[@matthew3078]

Sometimes when they change the rules in rugby, it doesn't pay off, but when they changed the scrummaging rules, it got rid of these endless resets. It's still not perfect, but compare it to how it used to be e.g., like these first 4-5 scrums. This used to happen all the time.

[@robbreeze7599]

With a decent referee Australia would have been down to 12 players.

[@davidedbrooke9324]

Sheridan was a tough cookie.

[@timmgoodman]

Never understood why he was allowed to not bind and put his hand on the ground. His hit was always going down.

[@paulmcsheaffrey1567]

Yep

[@mhorlor]

Cause his knee didn’t hit the ground.

[@MikeStoddart]

Vickery and Sheridan. Is that Shaw in the second row?

[@yoe91]

description.

[@jonnyinch8158]

Yeah it is

[@johnmerton3630]

No 1 was hopeless in the Australian scrum.

[@royalordinance]

England Superb.

[@lukeswan7776]

"Its the loose heads job to keep it up and the tightheads job to take it down" Australian commentators 😂

[@george941]

Sheridan: destroy scrums Beast : hold my pap en vleis😂

[@toiletsmithy3630]

How's the beast Relevant btw

[@george941]

@@toiletsmithy3630 the beast can destroy any scrum

[@toiletsmithy3630]

@@george941 I could say the same about 10+ other guys ...

[@Niggins96]

I don't get how this is entertaining it's 8 Aussies falling over for 8 minutes

[@randyschwaggins]

🤣🤣🤣...brilliant

[@oceanwaves657]

Catebury's infamous male bra kits.

[@NasinuWarrior85]

Can you believe that Andrew Sheridan is 6 foot 5 inches tall? He's a giant

[@yoe91]

NasinuWarrior85 a gentle giant :)

[@NasinuWarrior85]

not if he's nick-named the "Twickenham Tormentor" ;)

[@patrickharrison871]

Honestly that was exaggerated, he was more like 6'3. I used to train in the same gym with him. He was as strong as they say. Very good form and sending up monstrous weights. I remember watching him bench 180kg with perfect form and under total control.

[@royw-g3120]

I read 6,5" but even 6'3" is tall for a prop. And yes his strength was legendary even amongst other forwards. If you want a comparison from another sport, look up Larry Allen from the Dallas Cowboys. Similar era, similar dominance.

[@hookymakalele6296]

​@@patrickharrison871It wasn't exaggerated. Ridiculous comment. I used to lie about my height and weight when I played Level 4 Rugby in UK. you cant do that this level.... absolute nonsense. Just take a look, he is a similar height to the second rows and SS finished his career at 6'8 1/2......

[@theofarmmanager267]

All of the comments are very interesting - and sensible - and constructive. I would hesitate to say that these clips show Sheridan “destroying” Australia. Clearly, he was dominant (as someone has said, the Aussie props were club class) but the whole English front row weren’t able to play as a single unit and so you got a scrum that were not able to stop the Aussie front row from wheeling. I can’t say that I blame the referee, certainly early on in the match, for allowing the scrums to be a farce. Later on, he should have worked out who was doing what. I don’t know how any referee can know exactly what is happening in each scrum - I played prop for many years at club level and even I didn’t know what was happening all the time. We certainly didn’t see Sheridan or that USA - born man (memory lapse) for long enough. Considering props mature so much later than the backs, they could have been playing into early 30’s. But, so long as they are fit and healthy, life is more than just rugby

[@coniferclose]

Not a salty Aussie are you ?

[@theofarmmanager267]

@@coniferclose nope. English as they come. We normally (Covid excepting) spend about a month each year over there (we have son, daughter in law plus 4 grandchildren; house, car and boat over there) and did the 2013 Lions thing. I played club level prop; usually loose head. I started at 12 at school as hooker and ended up exactly 40 years later with my last game for the 1sts at tight head. Now, my body is getting pay back; especially neck down to hips; I had an MRI which showed that I had fractured (split?) a vertebrae without knowing and it healed itself badly - adding to the neck issues. I thought Corbisero was outstanding with the Lions in 2013; as I said, it was pity from an English rugby point of view that he and Sheridan didn’t stay in the game as long as, say, Dan Cole. I’ve not seen a lot of the Rodd man from Sale; what I have seen isn’t overly impressive to me. Why would Eddie Jones pick him when I don’t rate him? I mean, who is the better coach and selector?

[@sharifela7993]

It was a dreadful performance by Dunning. I understand the Australians spend more time defending free kicks than they do scrummaging.

[@themillwall442]

Dunning was a cream puff unofrtunately for us.

[@mattmccann8805]

Sheridan would have got 8 scrum penalties every game if he played now.

[@JoostMehrtens]

Could you back that claim up with an explanation?

[@mattmccann8805]

@@JoostMehrtens Please watch the video

[@runtimus5743]

What drugs are the commentators taking? xD

[@coops9871]

20-17 to who?

[@JohnJohnson-bz7ez]

9

[@Alvio64]

Who's playing 9 for England? It looks like Wilkinson

[@Stokie09123]

Andy Gomersall up to 20 minutes, Peter Richards after that

[@Alvio64]

​@@Stokie09123 Thanks, it's Gomersall then. At 1:07 he passes a bottle the turns round, he really looks like Wilkinson there. Hard to see the face but the hair is almost identical

[@patrickpritchard1554]

What a useless referee

[@myroseaccount]

Alain Rolland was always the 16th Man in opposition to England

[@pervyboy69]

Those hit up scrums were too unstable, it actually ruined scrummaging and the flow of the game.

[@abdulabdullahi3849]

I meat Sheridan in real life. Guy is a ORCH of man, even for a prop he is a beast. what impressed me the most was, he is a really quite, unassuming guy. His Traps where huge!!

[@troylucas8563]

Smash the convicts !

[@battleriflehappy]

And this is classed as entertainment?

[@iainhughes6637]

The start of the bad days for English rugby that went on for at least 10 years, English coaches not being brought through, the prem full of foreign players and eqp players, left wallowing below in the championship and grass root rugby. There is talk of changing this now but for the moment the system is broken

[@dulls8475]

Still is. 61% of players in premiership not available to England. It includes a few English who are on the Celtic books.

[@MKRM27]

I wonder if Rolland sees all of these - and the many other - comments, and is ashamed to look back at his career? He should be. No way should be be proud of the job he did.

[@sapete1936]

I can only hope that Rowland is embarrassed when looking back at this performance.

[@oliveraustin1531]

The comms team are funny. No idea what game or scrums there watching