Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

England 'very confident' officials will rule on Boks scrum tactic

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by EJ Langner/Gallo Images)

New England forwards coach Richard Cockerill has claimed he has every faith in their rookie front-rowers to thrive on Saturday at Twickenham, adding that he hopes they will even get a helping hand from the officials when it comes to refereeing the Springboks engagement at the scrum. The South African set-piece crushed the English when the countries last met two years ago in the World Cup final and there is anxiety that they are now going into this latest fixture with the inexperienced Bevan Rood and Jamie Blamire respectively starting at loosehead and hooker. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Cockerill, though, has no such worries about the rookie England pair who will pack down with tighthead Kyle Sinckler and he has every confidence that they will also be given a fair crack at the scrum engagement by a team of officials led by referee Andrew Brace.   

England boss Eddie Jones has already hit out at the Springboks for thinking that his pack is weak and Cockerill has now doubled down on those comments which were made on Thursday when a starting XV showed two changes from the win over the Wallabies last weekend was named.     

Video Spacer

Freddie Burns on whether the Springboks will target Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith

Video Spacer

Freddie Burns on whether the Springboks will target Maro Itoje and Marcus Smith

“Eddie is Eddie and he drives the environment how he wants to drive it. I agree with his comments,” insisted Cockerill, the ex-Leicester and Edinburgh boss who is just two games into his new role as an England assistant. “South Africa think that we are weak. That is fine, that is up to them what they say about that. 

“We have just to do the job that we have prepared to do. I have played for England. You all have your first Test, you all have your first game where you are going to be up against experienced players and you have to go into that well prepared, (with a) great mindset that we are going to take them on, that we are going to match them physically and see where we get to. 

“I have every confidence in Jamie Blamire, every confidence in Bevan Rodd. Bevan came in at the last minute last week, started against Australia, played 70 minutes and did a brilliant job. The only way to get experience is to do it and we have got two young guys that are going to learn, but we are very confident they will compete and do a great job and it is for us to do, for us to prove that we can cope with that pressure and that physicality and we certainly aim to do that.”

Asked why the Springboks seem to thrive at the scrum engagement, Cockerill explained: “They put a lot of weight across on the bind and they always try and hit and slightly chase through the engagement a little bit early. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“We are very confident the officials will be on top of that and know what they are looking at, and also we have to match that as well. If at some point the officials can’t control everything, as a front five we have to make sure we control the things that we want to do against them as well.”

That said, England newcomer Cockerill is an admirer of the relentlessly physical way that the Springboks play. “They play how they want to play and they make no apologies for it. They are successful, they are world champions, they win most games that they play. They have got a very experienced forwards pack that is very well drilled. They play how they play. 

“You know, 80 per cent plus of their lineouts are driven and they get a lot of success from that from penalties and march teams up the field. It is very much the most physical test you are going to come across at Test match level. Other teams are physical and fast but play differently. The South Africans, you know they make no apologies for how they are going to play. 

“They don’t change that game plan very often or at all and they put down the gauntlet of ‘well, we are going to do this, are you good enough to stop us’ and they win games. I have got no qualms about how they play. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“Fair play to them, they stick to what they do very well. It’s a part of the South African DNA, which I respect, and it’s a great challenge for us to go and match what they throw at us physically and play a game that suits this team to win the game. 

“Physically from a scrum and lineout point of view, there isn’t a harder team to play against in the world at the moment so that is the challenge for us. I don’t think it will be one that we will shy away from. We are looking forward to going into battle with South Africa. We will fire our own bullets and play how we want to play, but there are certainly always points in the game where you have to match your opposition physically.

“They are going to have their own lineout, they are going to have their own scrum put-ins and we are going to have to deal with that challenge and we are looking forward to it. 

“There are a couple of young guys in that front row that are relishing the opportunity to see how good they are and how they compete at this level. We have got a forward pack that will look forward to competing and if they think we have a weakness then that is up to them but we certainly don’t.”  

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jon 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

18 Go to comments
A
Adrian 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

18 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Storm clouds gather over Biarritz with owner poised to bail out Storm clouds gather over Biarritz with owner poised to bail out
Search