Rugby -Sio signing a big boost for Wallabies

By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, March 4 (Reuters) - With the player drain to Europe continuing apace and uncertainty surrounding the future of flanker David Pocock, Australian rugby received a piece of good news this week when prop Scott Sio signed a new contract. Australia's unexpected run to last year's World Cup final won justified plaudits for Michael Cheika, his coaching staff and a string of senior players but Sio's role in the revival of the Wallabies should not be underestimated. The transformation of the Australia scrum from near laughing stock to potent weapon was undoubtedly a team effort based on sound coaching strategy but at its foundation was strong scrummaging on Sio's loosehead side. Wallabies set piece coach Mario Ledesma told Reuters in a recent interview Sio had played a key role in the improvement of the scrum. "What we're trying to achieve is having a good system that anyone that comes in can perform," he said. "But I really think that Scotty was really important because I think when you want to scrummage square, everyone has to buy in, but especially the loosehead. "What he really needed to do was throw out the window everything he knew up to that point, and get him scrummaging for his hooker and for his tighthead. "Almost pulling pressure across the scrum for the tighthead to feel safe and scrummage square. I think that from the start Scotty got the message," added Ledesma. ONLY GETTING BETTER Still only 24, Sio is the son of Samoa prop David and was named Scott because his father was in Edinburgh preparing for a World Cup match when he was born. He emerged in Super Rugby with the ACT Brumbies and was handed his test debut by Ewen McKenzie off the bench against New Zealand in 2013 at the age of 21. Injury blighted his 2014 international season but a strong Super Rugby season, particularly against New Zealand teams, ensured Cheika would hand him his first start against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship in Sydney last year. That Australia won the match was extraordinary enough but more so was the sight of the Wallabies pack outmuscling the All Blacks' eight, with Sio giving New Zealand tighthead Owen Franks a torrid night. It was a harbinger of things to come and by October, Sio was one of the first names on Cheika's team sheet. He played in all the World Cup matches barring the semi-final against Argentina, which he missed with an elbow injury. "Maybe he started to get a little tired at the end of the competition where we saw him struggle against Scotland, maybe one scrum against the Kiwis too," Argentine Ledesma recalled. "But I think he was really, really one of our more consistent scrummagers and he's only 24, so he can only get better. I think he will be one of Australia's great looseheads." Sio's new contract will keep him in Australia until after the next World Cup in 2019 but next up in the test arena is another encounter with England and their scrum during their three-match test tour. "The World Cup was an amazing experience and is obviously the biggest stage in the game, so to get back there in three years' time is a huge personal goal," Sio said this week. "The boys are really hungry to build on that tournament and it's a massive year with England coming to Australia, the Rugby Championship and a grand slam tour at the end of the year." (Editing by Peter Rutherford)