TESSMANN RE-SIGNING ADDS TO PHYSICAL FORCE

[Scozzie]

I'd still say the scrums were allowed to be taken lower under older laws. Props were given more freedom to take their opposite number down to put pressure on the hooker - especially the tight head. Laws nowadays mean that the height of the props shoulders can't drop below his hips. I reckon it'll just be a case of the hookers (and scrum halves) needing to adapt to the new laws.

[Hansie]

y'know what bothers me about scrums these days, it is the time they take for the forwards to get there, 10 seconds bind, locks kinda amble in 15 seconds later, then 5 seconds between each call, a reset and wait for bootlace to be done up.

Geez, there should be 3 seconds between the time ref calls for a scrum and the ball going in. Forwards should bolt to the mark, crouch and engage, if opponents forwards are still waddling from the other side of the field and it's 8 on 3 or 6 - so be it.

Forwards will soon be blowing pretty hard running to set up a scrum that the force at impact won't break toothpick. If forward goes down with undone bootlace or sore hammy, get him off and get new prop on - or lose the feed, just lets get the game going. If you have 12 scrums in a game each taking 2 mins - you've lost 24 minutes of quality play.

[taylor]

Let's put a positive spin on this thread on 2 points here for the Force
Point 1 is that Kearns reckons it is a disadvantage to feed the scrum
Point 2 is that Tessmann from my memory couldn't throw the ball into the lineout straight twice in a row to save his life
Now we just get to win those lineouts from the ensuing scrum when we push the opposition off the ball

[The InnFORCEr]

Perfect storm helps Force rake Tessmann

By Justin Chadwick,
AAP
Updated August 26, 2013, 4:03 pm

Western Force hooker Heath Tessmann arrived in Perth late last year on a wing and a prayer in a bid to save his Super Rugby career.

He needed a perfect storm of events to unfold for things to work out in his favour.

Fortunately for him, the universe was on his side, and Tessmann was thanking his lucky stars on Monday after securing a new two-year deal with the Force.

Tessmann feared his Super career might be over after being axed by the Melbourne Rebels at the end of last season.

At 28 years of age and with just 10 Super caps to his name, Tessmann was hardly hot property.

But a broken foot to reserve Force hooker Ben Whittaker meant the Perth-based franchise needed to bring in an extra body for pre-season training.

Enter Tessmann.

Complications in Whittaker's recovery meant the Force needed a reserve hooker for the early rounds of the season.

Enter Tessmann.

And when Nathan Charles ruptured the anterior cruciate in his knee in March, the Force needed a starting hooker.

Enter Tessmann.

The Queensland-born rake made the most of his opportunities, producing a string of strong performances to finish fifth in the Force's player of the Year award.

Tessmann is still coming to grips with his journey from rugby scrapheap to Force regular.

"I wasn't even on the wider training squad when I first came to the Force, I was just someone brought in to hold a bag at training and fill a few spots," Tessmann said.

"Originally, I was only going to be coming here for two months.

"I was fortunate enough in that my sister had moved over here two months before me, so I was bunking in with her.

"I came over here not knowing if I'd be coming back after Christmas.

"And then it got extended a little bit because of injuries to other guys.

"And then I was lucky enough to spend the rest of the year here."

The Force managed just four wins and a draw last year under new coach Michael Foley.

But Tessmann is confident the foundations have now been set for future success.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...rake-tessmann/