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'Big men': England U20 scrum coach Nathan Catt verdict on Junior Boks
By Neil Fissler
Scrum coach Nathan Catt admits that the juices will be flowing as he tells his pack to be prepared for a physical battle, as U20 World Champions England face a massive showdown with South Africa in Rovigo, Italy, tomorrow.
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England face their most challenging test since beating France 21–13 in the final last July, taking on the Junior Boks at the Stadio Comunale Mario Battaglini. The match will be shown live on RugbyPass TV with a 5pm BST kick-off.
England, who started the defence of their crown with a 56–19 win over Scotland last weekend, know what to expect from the South Africans, who began their campaign with a crushing 73–17 win over Australia.
“Looking at the first game, they were obviously pretty successful against the Aussies. They are a typical South African squad in terms of—they have got some very good ball carriers and some really evasive players in the back three.
“They come with a hugely physical presence and look to dominate around the set piece, and impose those ball carriers on you, and have got some pretty electric players out wide.
“Judging by the first match, they are a definite threat, but we had some decent games in the Six Nations, so it will be interesting to see how the Southern Hemisphere matches up with the Northern Hemisphere.
“We will probably get a pretty good idea of where we are at and where they are at, but it is going to be a proper arm wrestle for sure.
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“This 100 per cent gets the juices flowing. For me and the boys, you want to scrummage against the best packs. You know South Africa are going to bring a physical presence. They have got some big men in their scrum.”
Ralph McEachran keeps his place at loose-head, while the Bath duo of Kepu Tuipulotu and Billy Sela are called into the front row. Louie Gulley and Tye Raymont, who both started against Scotland, drop out.
Catt points out that he has seen an added edge in training this week and says that they need to be disciplined to carry out the game plan put in place to try and nullify one of the Boks’ areas of strength.
“Scotland had a really good scrum with some good players in it, so we have had some pretty decent warm-up going. They really tested us.
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“We are going to be looking to assert dominance in the scrum as I am sure they are. The boys are excited. You could see that there was a little bit of edge in our scrum session on Wednesday in anticipation of it.
“We have got a plan, but I don’t want to give too much away. We know the South Africans are big and heavy, but we have got to scrum on our terms and dictate what this scrum is going to look like, which will hopefully give us that edge.
“But you know if you go toe to toe with a South African pack, it’s going to be physical and they are going to try and scrum for dominance. In age group teams, discipline is key.
“Players are still learning their craft, so they haven’t fully refined it yet. So they need to be disciplined not to give away penalties, but also disciplined in how they set up and how they engage, how they are taking their steps.
“They are going to be under some heat and fatigued, so they need to be disciplined to stick to what they need to be doing individually and collectively to assert themselves,” he added.