All Blacks once again question legitimacy of Springbok scrum
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Legitimate.
The All Blacks have once again questioned the legitimacy of the Springboks’ scrum dominance following their 29-24 defeat at FNB Stadium.
South Africa’s set-piece proved decisive once again in Soweto as the Springboks claimed a second successive victory to take a 2-1 lead in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
The scrum has become a major talking point throughout the series, with the All Blacks previously raising concerns over South Africa’s tactics following the opening Test at Ellis Park.
Springbok scrum coach Daan Human subsequently rejected suggestions that his side were deliberately scrummaging illegally, while Rassie Erasmus and Dave Rennie also became embroiled in the debate.
Now All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes has questioned whether all of the penalties being awarded to the Springboks are legitimate.
Barnes acknowledged the dominance of the South African set-piece but admitted New Zealand must find solutions ahead of the fourth and final Test in Baltimore.
“You can’t hide from it. Their set piece is pretty damn dominant, and they get a gravy train of penalties from it,” Barnes said.
“So we’re going to have to eat humble pie and be honest in our reviews and be solution-based because we’ve got to go better and be on the other side of that scoreboard.
“I’m not going to say they’re all legit, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to change the perception for the officials as well, so we get a fair rub of the green, but yeah, we’ve got to be solution-based here.”
Barnes also highlighted what he believes is a fundamental difference between the way the two sides approach the set-piece.
“Well, if you look at our ball, there’s hardly a penalty.,” he said.
“The ball comes out and plays, and the mindset over here is your set pieces are there to create penalties to get yourself down the other end of the field.
“So, as I said, we’ve got to get solution-based on how to stop this set piece. I didn’t think we did too bad a job today. We’ve got a maul try against us at the end, which hurt pretty bad, but the scrum penalties- we’ve got to find a way to stop it as well.”
The All Blacks must now find answers quickly after falling to their second successive defeat of the series.
Victory in Baltimore would allow New Zealand to level the four-Test series at 2-2, while another Springbok win would secure South Africa’s first Test-series triumph over the All Blacks since 1976.
