Frustrated with how the scrum battle went against Ireland in the first Test, Bongi Mbonambi has called for a fairer contest as the Springboks look to seal the series in Durban on Saturday.
The Springboks claimed a 27-20 victory through a 78th-minute scrum penalty at Loftus Versfeld, but are still unsatisfied with how that area of the game went against a streetsmart Ireland.
Using every trick up their sleeve, the visitors were largely able to negate a strength-versus-strength contest in the scrums and won a couple of penalties for getting the Boks to engage early.
“In the first half, we got frustrated because Ireland obviously looked to play a lot of tricks at scrum time,” Mbonambi said. “Where we just want a fair competition, we want a fair contest at the scrum.
“It’s somewhere where we definitely have to learn, to train this week and learn our lessons from the previous game.
“The Bomb Squad did an amazing job and the penalty try was very satisfying for everyone. But there’s a lot of improvement to be done when it comes to scrumming against them.”
RASSIE: Ireland don’t fear the Bomb Squad
Another area of concern that has been raised from the first Test is the breakdown, as Ireland were able to make a plethora of turnovers as the Springboks started to build pressure with their new ball-in-hand approach.
Mbonambi said that with Jerry Flannery and Duane Vermeulen’s help, the Boks should be better in that area at Kings Park.
“With Jerry coming in, it has helped,” said Mbonambi. “Jerry and Duane have been trying to improve our breakdown skills. Jaco [Peyper] is also teaching us the laws.
“We’re looking at things like, you know, when can we counter ruck? When is the ball out?
“Obviously, we know that the Irish team is definitely going to come harder than they did at Loftus,” Mbonambi added. “I mean, they pride themselves at sort of shortening the rucks, getting to our nine and slowing down our ball.
“We saw how it impacted our play when they start getting on to Faf [de Klerk] and all that and shortening our rucks.
“We have someone like Duane who’s been doing it for years and he knows all the ground skills and also having Jaco teaching us the laws when you’re onside and when you’re offside.
“And also, Jerry is doing an awesome, fantastic job, teaching us exactly how the Irish players attack our rucks.”
Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images
The post Bongi urges ref to watch Ireland’s scrum ‘tricks’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
