Rassie Erasmus on scrum battle between Boks and All Blacks

Springboks head coach has complimented the All Blacks scrum in the wake of the 29-24 win Soweto in the third Test of the Greatest Rivalry series.

After a week marred by debate of scrum tactics and fury from the Springboks fans, the scrums were in South Africa’s favour in Soweto.

The All Blacks conceded 12 penalties, many of which were at scrum time giving the Springboks an exit and territorial gain.

“I think we were caught for a free kick. We were caught for collapsing one,” Erasmus said of the scrums.

“So I just think if we, well… I’m the last one probably to talk about that because I have moaned in the media in the past, I just think the frustration was just not because what was raised, it was was it the right platform?

“Should it be out there? And and I’ve been guilty in the past, so I’ve learned my lesson. I got banned and things like that, and then you sort of expect everybody else also to do it that way, but I don’t know how many people know that.

When asked whether the Springboks were happy with the scrums, Erasmus was complimentary of the All Blacks efforts and said that the changes made to the front row by Rennie worked.

Erasmus asked for the narrative that the Boks play ‘games’ around the scrums were parked for now.

“He’s a gentleman. He definitely coaches a very brutal way, and it’s sometimes difficult to get around the the smart things that he coaches,” Erasmus said.

“And I don’t think we were dominant in the scrums. I think there were times when it was pretty equal, and things could have gone against us, but I’m just glad the narrative of ‘games’ at the scrums is really not a South African thing.

“I mean, hell, I can tell you we like high balls and we like a kicking game and we like mauling, but we would never pick a scrum. So I hope that we park that. We park that now because they scrummed flippin’ well tonight.

“There was a few scrums where we were under the pump, we were glad they got the ball out, and they didn’t keep on scrumming.

“So, you know, the changes he made really made a hell of a difference. And yeah, if we can if we can park that and just concentrate on on, he calls it ‘footy’, have some good footy next week.”