Last night the All Blacks played a warm up game against the Stormers which they won by a flattering score line. 14 all with 13 minutes to play and the All Blacks eventually won 38-21. Many expected the AB's to score more than 50 points and few expected such a tight run contest. The media backlash was expected as the worlds eyes are expecting or rather hoping for a close battle with the Springboks and this is not looking good.
Time To Panic As This Is Too Late To Fix
The big worry for the tourists was the set pieces with the scrum taking strain and capitulating. Both sides were rusty with their handling play which having not played for 6 weeks along with the damp conditions kind of evened things out.
The scrum is not something that can be blamed on being rusty as this is something you continuously train for and is that important for any team. There were at least 6 scrums which the AB's back tracked and were forced to collapse which is their biggest worry. The touring party consists of 44 players of which 8 are front row props with 4 tight heads and 4 loose heads. Last night they had to replace the props and then those props were shown to be too weak. This is against players who are in a scratch Stormers team and are not part of the South African 53 player squad. South Africans love their scrums and teams are gauged on this so the AB's are in deep trouble.
The problems are major problems as this is a technical side of the game the majority do not understand and takes years of perfecting the various skills. When you set the scrum the prop has his outer leg ahead of his inner leg so it acts like a brake and takes the weight of the pack behind him. The hooker who is supposed to hook the ball has one leg ahead of the other to guide the ball back. Both props last night failed to use this method which is the scrumming laws requirements. This is why they were pushed backwards forcing the collapse under pressure and were penalized. The Stormers scrum is a mediocre scrum in SA so other teams will have spotted this glaring weakness and fun times await the tourists.
This brake foot law was implemented on a trial basis back in 2022 and is now mandatory with the new law changes that happened on July 1st. This is all about player safety and not having the front row collapsing avoiding neck injuries. If players have not been tested against a superior stronger outfit then they are going to find it very difficult.
The reason for not using this method is quite simple as they know what is coming with the SA team going to the "lower in the harbor move" and having one leg ahead of the other will make you very vulnerable. The SA forward pack has been practicing scrums for years against the second string SA forward pack and they have no contenders who even come close to what they have perfected. The scrum for so long has not been a major influence and is now a teams secret weapon when perfected.
The intensity of these 60 minute sessions is more intense than game time that leaves the front row players with bleeding shoulders and cauliflower ears so much so their bodies have got used to this. The SA coaching staff will be watching out for the AB's next match because they have to use their remaining 4 props at some point before the first test kicks off in two weeks time.
So far no other nation has matched up to the SA scrum and has wilted under the intense pressure. This flaw the AB's have is no quick fix and is only shown up against scrums that are stronger than your own so no wonder it has not been questioned up until last night. Just ask Ireland who ended up playing uncontested scrums 12 months ago after being pushed off the park. You either have the players or you don't and knowing how the other 4 props who have not played the standard will improve but only slightly which is not enough to compete.
The entire country is waiting for the first second and third scrums against the AB's because that is the test series right there. The first twenty minutes will set the tone of the tour and it will be brutal as no side wants to give an inch on the macho scale. If they can survive those scrums then we shall see a closely contested series or it will be a run away for the home team.
Posted Using INLEO
