Former Springbok props Gurthro Steenkamp and BJ Botha, with ex-assistant coach Matt Proudfoot break down how South Africa’s set piece has turn out to be unstoppable power.
Talking to BBC Sport, they emphasised the work put into the Boks’ scrumming energy whereas shedding gentle on how the Bomb Squad has reshaped the pack’s dominance.
“South Africa sees the scrum as a spot to implement ourselves,” mentioned Botha, a 2007 World Cup winner. “It’s the place we’re allowed to be bodily and dominate gamers legally, setting the tone for the sport. After we scrum, we scrum to dominate.”
Steenkamp, additionally a 2007 World Cup winner and now La Rochelle’s scrum coach, attributes the prowess to South Africa’s early concentrate on scrumming expertise.
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“At my old-fashioned, they begin creating the finer strategies as early as 14 or 15,” he mentioned. “That focus to element prepares gamers for the actual scrum battles at 15 or 16.”
Proudfoot, who helped coach the Bok scrum throughout their victorious 2019 World Cup marketing campaign, recalled how they crafted the enduring Bomb Squad.
“We knew Beast [Tendai Mtawarira] was probably the most harmful, so we constructed the starters round him. [Malcolm] Marx and [Steven] Kitshoff, our finishers, have been the facility,” he defined.
“It was like taking the shine off the ball in cricket – first disrupt, then overpower.”
Proudfoot additionally highlighted the eagerness the again row brings to each scrum: “As soon as they really feel momentum shift, they go. Duane [Vermeulen] was like that, and now Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese convey that drive, embedding the tradition in each set piece.”
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Photograph: @Springboks/Twitter
