‘Not always easy to understand’: Bok scrum coach responds to accusations

South Africa scrum coach Daan Human has emphatically asserted that he has “never coached” his side to walk around in the scrum, adding that it is “not ideal for us”.

Speaking to the media in the wake of the Springboks’ second Test victory over the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, Human defended his pack in light of accusations made by New Zealand boss Dave Rennie over alleged underhanded tactics in the scrum.

“The scrums were better tonight,” Rennie said after his side fell 33-26 in Cape Town to leave the four-match series level. “I think Angus was pretty strong around setting a mark and trying to keep the hookers in the same spacing.

“If the Springboks moved across further left, then he stopped them. We’ll give them a bit of feedback around that; it’s still a bit of an issue for us because they’re able to walk around and go straight through our tighthead. So, there’ll be a couple of little technical things that we’ll share again.

“But I thought in the end, both teams were able to play off the scrums so I think Angus did a reasonable job there.”

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Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus fired back immediately at those accusations, saying it was “the first time ever in history that people are talking about us walking around.” Human has now doubled down on his boss’ sentiments.

“I can assure you, I have never coached that,” Human said this week. “We want to go forward, not walk around. Walking around is not ideal for us because it doesn’t give us forward momentum, which is what we want.

“We’re not perfect and things can happen, but if we see something that can be done better, we try to fix it at the very next scrum.

“The scrum is a very important part of our team. It’s part of our culture and this country. There may be different opinions, but it’s not always easy to understand what’s really happening inside a scrum.”

Despite failing to dominate in the scrum in the manner they did in the first Test, with a handful of decisions falling the way of the All Blacks, Human complimented Angus Gardner on how he officiated the set-piece in Cape Town.

“Referees need to understand what’s happening in the scrum and they all have a lot of experience,” he said.

“I actually thought Angus Gardner was very consistent in his decisions last Saturday. What he called for us, he called for them. It was the same story.

“I have respect for him and I’m not going to question his decisions, but also that’s in the past now. This weekend we need to adapt to how the new referee sees it, and if he tells us to fix something we’ll fix it. But I genuinely don’t think Angus refereed differently to how he normally does.”