'Humble pie': Neil Barnes on Springboks' dominant set-piece display

You must have missed the scrum penalty try…

Both. Both are not good enough.

Two missed tackles, two converted tries. Losing by five and leaving seven on the kicking tee doesn’t help either.

That’s a 21 point differential.

Mr Never Again.

you cannot out-talk a dominant set-piece on the international stage when the Springboks are getting their weight low, locking their alignment, and marching forward legally.

Except they don’t always do that, as the want more than just go forward ball. They are scrumming for penalties, as you saw in how the ref rewarded them but also caught them out a few times.

I think you’re confusing blaming the officiating for your scrum getting pushed backwards, and blaming the officiating for awarded undue penalties and skewing the balance of the game.

Playing with 20 backline players and a front row one cannot expect to compete at scrum time.

It’s not that big HB, they wouldn’t have considerd it the winning or losing of the series. They would be much more concerned about all the other areas where they would have wanted to do better.

Winners don’t whine about the rules. They do what they have to do; by means fair or foul.

Relying on the referee to save you is a losing strategy.

Also letting New Zealand’s best scrum coach go to Australia is just plain dumb by the NZRU.

We also sing and dance like a bunch of nutters whenever we get a chance.

Can’t take us anywhere…

That won’t help them at all. The issue is much deaper and starts from junior level where other countries have failed to develop out and out scrumming front rows for over a decade now. IMHO, there is not silver bullet or short-cut to parity with SA teams and even less against the Boks. All the complaining in the media is also doing them no good because it’s just telling the officials that they can’t compete legaly.

Spot on. The first two tests, there was a lot guff around the scrum, especially off the field. I thought the ABs did well to negate the Boks in those first two tests at scrum time, despite have a weaker scrum. But they got owned by SA in that third test, and no amount of “we could have won had we converted our line breaks etc” post game chatter can hide the fact that they got beat up front, by a better pack of forwards. It's a simple game really, and the boks made it as brutally honest as you can get and just took it by force. Better at the set piece, found an extra gear from 40-60 and just bullied the ABs at the breakdown.

The best thing in that match for me? Most people would vote for the maul to Marx try, but I'm gonna pick Oxs support run up the mid field from Jaspers low pass, and then his perfect pass to Libbok. He's a class act.

When you rush the ball out of your own feed just to avoid getting shoved off it, you aren't playing solution-based rugby, you are surviving.

On their feed you see Roigard feeding into his flanks feet in desperation to get it out quickly. Is that even legal? I thought that the ball had to go to the hooker.

For a NZder (me) you explained that very well. Never played in the forwards so it's a bit beyond me, however from what I saw of the Boks forward coach on YT and how he was training his props, I can see why we are coming second best. Seemed like a real emphasis on a strong core, which you mentioned, and a very strong lower back so they are able to hold their position for a minute. The equipment he used fascinated me, simple and very effective. Until NZ props can come up with the same intensity and the ability to be stable, we aren't going to be able to match the Boks.

We knew what we were up against…I can't work out why we weren't working hard at scrummaging before we went over to South Africa. Surely Super rugby coaches work on it…the Hurricanes certainly did under Whopper, and the Highlanders had a strong scrum, maybe the rest don't bother as much?? In saying that Tosi has not stood up well at scrum time and I can see him being replaced for the world cup, while the young Hurricanes prop Lauaki is showing promise.

I agree with you, forget the ref and just work as hard as you can on thr training paddock to fix. It won't be done before Saturday, however it has to be by the World Cup.

“…where as the Boks are as good as they are going to be and with the age of some of there players “

I would not e so sure of that though, Et. Look at some of the talent in their U20’s coming through. And their schools teams are very strong.

Yep, they’re one of the greats atm.

We have four already capped props under 30 Venter, Mchunu, Sadie Porthen, at hooker Andre Hugo Venter also a capped Springbok is 23 so don’t fret - there’s another power front house front row and bench just waiting. Not to mention the plethora of locks and loose forwards all under 30 some still u23.

Nah, we have a bunch of talented youngsters waiting in the wings and on the fringes. Many of them have had a first taste of test rugby and even more have experienced the Bok culture.

When they step onto the world stage, they slot in seamlessly. That’s the genius of Rassie; he is continuously building. Most other coaches use the post RWC period to excuse their poor performances. Not the doc. His team just continues evolving.

“Now the All Blacks scrum is a bit of an embarrassment.” Far too harsh, Spew. If you look at all the scrums in the game, the AB’s were in good shape at many, even edging the Boks in a few. But get your setup wrong, lose your concentration, and the Bok props will destroy you. That is what happened at the penalty try scrum.

You obviously didn’t want the weekends game, or pay attention to who the referees were.