Springboks coach Daan Human: ‘All Blacks have one of the most powerful scrums in the world’
Daan Human has hailed the All Blacks' scrum as one of the best in the game.
Springboks scrum coach Daan Human has hailed the All Blacks’ scrum as one of the best in the game and has commented on Steven Kitshoff’s return to fitness ahead of the clash in Cape Town.
The spoils were largely shared at scrum time when South Africa and New Zealand squared off at Ellis Park in round three of the Rugby Championship despite the Boks looking to flex their strength at the set-piece.
The Springboks dominated Australia in their first two Tests of the competition and while they managed to eke out a handful of penalties it was not a dominant performance at the set-piece against New Zealand in Johannesburg.
All Blacks’ scrum
Much of that has been put down to the Springboks‘ injury concerns in the locking position with Pieter-Steph du Toit starting the game in the second-row but Human said the coaching staff was pleased with the performance at the set-piece and did not use the changes as an excuse.
“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,” he told reporters on Monday.
“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.
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“Yes, we realise that there are a lot of locks injured but we hope they get back soon.”
Turning his attention to the opposition’s set piece, Human spoke glowingly of the All Blacks’ scrum and while overall, he was happy with his team’s scrummaging at Ellis Park, he admitted there was room for improvement.
“There is always an ideal situation where you want to have the heaviest, strongest and most experienced guys but they are not always available,” he added.
“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.”
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Steven Kitshoff’s return
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.
The loosehead prop has now played twice for Western Province in the Currie Cup and could be brought into the matchday 23 despite the excellent form of fellow front-rowers Ox Nche and Gerhard Steenekamp.
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With South Africa hosting New Zealand in Cape Town, Human admits that the fact it is Kitshoff’s home ground will factor into the Springboks’ selection.
“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,” Human said.
“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.”
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