Springboks loosehead prop Ox Nche is wary of the Wallabies’ tricks when it comes to scrum time ahead of their opening Rugby Championship clash on Saturday.
The scrum is one of the Springboks’ main weapons, as was witnessed during the 2023 Rugby World Cup where they used it as a platform to get penalties to either win territory or build scoreboard pressure.
However, they have traditionally struggled to really impose themselves on Australia’s scrum, especially away from home. It’s also really difficult to know how the Wallabies manage to nullify the Boks, because South African teams don’t feature in Super Rugby anymore, where they played their Wallaby counterparts on a regular basis.
The Wallabies, though, have suffered a huge blow ahead of the Test match, with explosive tighthead Taniela Tupou not available for selection. However, they still have the experienced Allan Alaalatoa anchoring the scrum against the mighty Nche.
“For me, their scrum is very unpredictable,” Nche said. “You can see that they actually want to scrum. They stay in the contest.
“They will do anything to make sure that they dominate and go forward.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us, especially given that we aren’t in Super Rugby any more. It will be the first time since last year that we get to scrum against them.
“From what I have seen, they can be very unpredictable. You don’t know what they are going to bring. We just have to be prepared for anything.”
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The Wallabies may have a few tricks up their sleeves in Brisbane, especially as the new law variations comes into play in the opening round of the Rugby Championship.
According to the new laws, a scrum must be set 30 seconds from when the mark for scrum is made by the referee. A free kick shall be awarded at the place of the scrum against the team causing the delay.
If they come under pressure at scrum time, the Wallabies may decide to delay things on purpose and concede a free kick, because the Springboks won’t be able to use another scrum from a short-arm offence.
However, Nche says they are not too worried that the new law variations at scrum time will take away some of the Springboks’ dominance in this department.
Nche, who famously said “salad doesn’t win scrums”, insists the Springboks can still have their cake and eat it when it comes to the set-piece.
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“We had looked at our scrums even before these slight law changes. We just have to adapt, and if the game becomes faster, we have the players who will love that,” said Nche.
“We have spoken about how the game could change and made plans for it.
“But I don’t think the new law variations, forming the scrum in 30 seconds, is de-powering the scrum. It just demands a bit more from the front-rowers and the entire forward pack.
“As a tight forward, you just have to meet the fitness requirements, to make sure that you can set quickly and keep the game flowing. You won’t have guys milking it and exploiting the boundaries of the law, and that is good for us.”
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