World Cup winning Wallaby Bob Egerton endorses the ScrumTruk
Bob Egerton, a member of the 1991 World Cup
winning Wallaby team and long-serving player
and coach with the Sydney University Football
Club, admits to having been "a big fan of ScrumTruk
since its inception." He recommends
its use for players at all levels in the game.
Bob Egerton was the first Club Coach to use the ScrumTruk
when in 2004 he and Todd Louden were setting
up the Elite Development Squad (EDS) program
at Sydney University's rugby club. The EDS program
laid the foundation for the Club's subsequent
success in winning premierships and developing
professional players, and the ScrumTruk has
been an integral part of the strength and conditioning
section of the program.
When Bob returned to his first love of school
teaching in 2005 he recommended to the Friends
of Grammar Rugby that they also install
the ScrumTruk. The Friends group had been set
up to assist in overcoming Sydney
Grammar School's lack of competitiveness
in rugby. Renowned for its academic selectiveness
and outstanding scholastic performances, the
School was struggling to compete against schools
whose focus was more on sporting ability and
performance. The Friends funded the purchase
of a ScrumTruk to "improve scrummaging strength
and technique and allow productive work to be
accomplished by boys in lunchtime workouts where
appropriate."
In the past two seasons Grammar has made steady
progress on the rugby field. In 2005 the First
XV had two victories and a draw from their seven
games in Sydney's Greater Public Schools (GPS)
competition, and performed even better in 2006
winning three of their last four games and losing
the other by a single point.
"I have been a big
fan of ScrumTruk since its inception." says
Bob Egerton. "Having played at all levels in
the game and coached players of all abilities,
I am well aware that preparation is everything.
ScrumTruk provides a specificity of training
off the field that enhances performance on it.
This benefits players, whether they be School
1st XV or internationals. Having utilised ScrumTruk
in my training programmes for the last 3 years,
I thoroughly recommend its value."
Northampton Saints endorse the ScrumTruk
English Premiership club Northampton Saints pioneered the use of the ScrumTruk in the U.K. Performance Coach Tim Exeter installed two ScrumTruks prior to the 2005-2006 season. Exeter, a former Scotland A centre, worked in strength and conditioning with West Bromwich Albion FC, Coventry FC and Portsmouth FC, before coming back to rugby with Richmond RFC from 1997 to 1999 then joining the Saints in 2001 where his innovatory approach has revolutionised the performance department.
Tim Exeter credits the ScrumTruk with helping to improve the Saints' scrum performance:
"The addition of ScrumTruk has enhanced our training. It is position specific and gives better transfer than traditional exercises. It helps de-load the lumbar spine which traditionally is restricted post match for some days. We mix in with some traditional exercises and this helps give the necessary variety and stimulation to the players. We have adapted exercises using double leg, single leg and walking up and back and found functional improvements in strength and stability and the players like it!"
The ScrumTruk also receives strong endorsement from Tom Smith, who says: "I have found ScrumTruk invaluable as a tool to improve strength specifically related to scrimmaging whilst reducing the impact on lower back and shoulders." A world class prop, Smith, who has been a Saints player since 2001, was a 61-cap veteran with Scotland, as well as playing 6 back-to-back tests on the last two Lions tours.
Other users' opinions
"It's a great machine for
developing pushing power in a controlled way", he said.
"It's also unique; there is no other machine available
where you can train by yourself to develop individual
pushing power. Other machines require the whole pack to
participate, but they are more for technique than
developing pushing power. This is specific to the
requirement of the game and much more effective than
doing squats."
David Fitter, Wallabies, ACT Brumbies, Western Force and
Sydney University front row forward.
" 2004 has been a very
successful year for Sydney University rugby; winning the
New South Wales Club Championship and all nine of our
teams making the finals series. Throughout the grades
the performance of the scrum has been outstanding, with
wins against the feed and pushover tries occurring
frequently. A major factor in our scrum dominance has
been the players' use of the ScrumTruk machine which has
significantly increased their pushing strength and
self-confidence."
Todd Louden, Director of Rugby, Sydney
University Football Club, 2004 (Australia's oldest rugby club
and sixth-oldest in the world. It has produced 103
Wallabies)
"A short report on the
ScrumTruk - The boys from Rugby are using to the max and
enjoying same. Furthermore, I have convinced the boys
doing squats the advantage of using the machine in lieu
of squats. The Athletic and Basketball squads doing
Plyometrics with me find the machine a great help to
warm up and build up Quads before Plyometric
Sessions."
Mike Cronin, PDHPE Dept, St Aloysius'
College, Sydney (Strength and conditioning coach
for Firsts Rugby, Soccer, Basketball and Tennis)
"For the past two years we
have used the ScrumTruk as part of our weight training
program. The ScrumTruk is the best machine available for
replicating the scrummaging action and as a result we
have seen some dramatic improvements in the scrummaging
strength of our development players."
Steve Surridge, All Black and Head Coach
2005, Sydney University Football Club | 
