Springbok coach Jake White and his assistant Gert Smal on Monday said something has to be done about the way the Wallabies manipulate the scrums.
The Boks conceded two free kicks to the Wallabies at scrum time during Saturday’s Mandela Challenge Plate Test at Ellis Park, won 33-20 by South Africa. On both occasions the Australian scrumhalf George Gregan did not feed the scrum immediately, rather ”waiting” for the scrum to start moving and then appealing to the referee Steve Walsh to penalise the bigger Bok scrum.
”The scrum is supposed to be an equal contest and you would expect a pack of 900kg to dominate a pack of 800kg. If that does not happen, how can that be equal?” asked White.
”On Saturday our scrums were perfect, but on their put-in it collapsed, was reset or wheeled. Why does that happen? Their flank and eighth man also put huge pressure on our scrumhalf. [The scrums] were probably not refereed and managed the way they should have been.
”They use the scrum as a restart and not as a contest.”
Smal, who is in charge of coaching the forwards, said it would be important for the Boks to stay composed during scrums in Saturday’s Tri-Nations encounter with Australia at Loftus in Pretoria.
”We have to address this problem through the right channels. It is up to the referee to read it right and penalise foul play. We hope the referee will place Gregan and their pack under pressure this weekend,” said Smal.
Smal also praised the Bok line-out, with Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha severely disrupting the Wallabies in Johannesburg. The pair poached four line-outs early in the second half.
”Our reaction on their ball and speed off the ground was magnificent. We put them under pressure — our good work during the week paid off.”
The referee on Saturday is New Zealander Paul Honiss, who handled last year’s Test between South Africa and Ireland in Dublin, won 17-12 by the hosts. – Sapa