Springboks scram coach says their opponents have strong scrum in the world

After defeating New Zealand (All Blacks) over the weekend by a score line of 31-27 at Ellis Park Stadium.

Now Rassie Erasmus together with his troops have another tough test awaiting for them in Durban where they will be facing the same opponent (New Zealand).

Currently Amabokoboko are leading the pack at Castle Lager Championship as they have managed to collect 14 points behind them is All Blacks with 6 points.

Rassie Erasmus and his troops just need three points from three remaining fixtures in order to become the champion.

Springboks sram coach Daan Human has praised the ability that is being possed by New Zealand during scrum.

Human said “We have got very versatile players in the squad who can play a lot of positions and I wouldn’t say it weakened our scrum but we realise that guys haven’t scrummed as a combination together before.

“Also, Ruan Nortje and Pieter-Steph du Toit started at lock then we moved Pieter to flank and then back to lock so I think that had an influence on the scrum but it’s decisions that we had to make in the game and the players still delivered.

“Yes, we realise that there are a lot of locks injured but we hope they get back soon.”

He went on to emphasize that dispite lossing scrum on few occasions, the coach said he is happy with the way players applied themselves and there is a room of improvement.

Human said “There is always an ideal situation where you want to have the heaviest, strongest and most experienced guys but they are not always available.

“We worked with what we had and actually, we were very happy with our performance. We reviewed it closely and had a look at it at ourselves and we saw that the All Blacks have a very powerful scrum probably one of the most powerful scrums in the world.

“But at the same time, I think we handled ourselves well and we had a look a proper look this morning at ourselves and we can improve.”

The Springboks could beef up their front row for the second Test match with double Rugby World Cup winner Steven Kitshoff who has not featured at all for South Africa this year after sustaining a knee injury in his final outing for Ulster.

Human went on to emphasize that the return of Kitshoff will be a crucial factor in Springboks selection.

He said “Kitsie has only been back for two games now and I had a close look at his game for Western Province, they had a good win.

“We are looking at all the options and we will consider the fact that it is also his home ground that we are playing at this weekend.

“It will have an influence on our selection and obviously playing in front of his home crowd, he’s from here; it can be a thing that we think about.”

BY LUCKY SEANEGO