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‘Boks don’t need to manipulate scrum’
England prop Kyle Sinckler has defended the Springbok scrum following accusations of illegal tactics by the All Blacks.
The battle up front has been the biggest flashpoint of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, with All Blacks coach Dave Rennie accusing the Boks of “walking around” at the set-piece after both the first and second Tests. michezonews.co.za
The Boks responded emphatically in the third Test at FNB Stadium, earning four scrum penalties and, late in the first half, decimating the All Blacks pack to win a penalty try.
WATCH: Power Bok scrum wins penalty try
Sinckler believes the accusations have only fired up a Bok scrum that has no need to cheat.
“All of the pressure that was put on [the Boks] by the New Zealand side in terms of walking around, wheeling around – I’ve never heard so much [about it],’ Sinckler said on the Biggar Thinking: Rugby Analysis podcast.
“But I think that kind of pressure from the outside really revved up the South African boys and they really put it to New Zealand in this Test.
“In my experience playing against South Africa, they’re not the type of team where they’re going to manipulate or mess around.
“Those big packs have got so much quality. They don’t need to manipulate or make something happen.
“They trust their processes. They trust their training. They trust the individuals that they have in the team, and even the people who aren’t in the team.
“How many games have they won in the past which have come down to their scrum?
“It might seem a bit strange from the outside looking in, but they’ve been in that situation where their scrum has won them World Cups, won them big tournaments.
“So for them, that is as guaranteed as taking the three points.”
ALSO: ‘Humble’ Kiwis look for scrum quick fix
There has also been debate over whether World Rugby is seeking to depower the scrum through law changes and the way existing laws are applied by referees.
Sinckler, though, is firmly against diminishing the contest and believes the attention generated by the Bok-All Blacks scrum battle has been good for the sport.
“The scrum is what makes rugby union rugby union.
“The set-piece, the lineout, the maul, the scrum, the ruck – it just highlights how important that part of the game is and why it should always be at the forefront of our game.
“Sometimes, which frustrates me, especially when you watch rugby on TV, you have commentators say, ‘Oh, we need to hurry this up. There needs to be a time on it.’
“It’s like, no. This is a contest. This is what rugby union is about. This is the game.
“That’s the contest, and it should be heightened. It should be bigged up like it has been throughout the series.
“I’m obviously always going to be biased, but I’ve absolutely loved it.”
The post ‘Boks don’t need to manipulate scrum’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
‘Outscoring us constantly with tries’: Springboks know defence will again be vital
The Springboks, who go into the fourth and final Test with a 2-1 lead despite scoring only eight tries to the All Blacks’ 13 in the first three games, say defence will again be crucial in Baltimore.
The teams play the final Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test in the United States after the All Blacks won 33-16 (five tries to one) in Ellis Park while the Springboks bounced back 33-26 in Cape Town (three tries to four) and 29-24 (four tries apiece) in Soweto.
New Zealand have scored 83 points to the Springboks’ 78, with Ardie Savea and Will Jordan leading the charts with three tries each.
Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus had spoken of how defence had to improve ahead of the last clash at FNB Stadium, which it did even though fullback Cheslin Kolbe went off in the ninth minute due to injury, and the backline had to be reshuffled, with Manie Libbok coming on at flyhalf and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu moving to fullback.
After naming his team for Saturday’s series decider on Monday night, Erasmus said his side had not improved in defence so much as they learned from their first Test against the All Blacks.
Especially in how they handled the breakdown, the All Blacks’ tempo, and defence in the wider channels.
‘Not the only thing that wins you matches’
“When the All Blacks make a line break, they have helluva speed,” Erasmus said.
“That’s the game they promote and obviously a lot of their training time – not that I know, we can just feel it on the field – goes into attack.
“They can certainly cut you apart and score some awesome tries. They’ve been outscoring us constantly with tries. Luckily that’s not the only thing that wins you matches.”
He argued that a penalty kick only yielded two fewer points than an unconverted try – something they learned the hard way after entering the New Zealand 22 many times through to scrum dominance in the first game, but failing to come away with points.
Young Springboks match All Blacks’ energy
“Then again, I don’t think there is a defence system that they will not breach the way they are playing,” Erasmus added of the All Blacks’ attack.
“The scramble defence becomes really important. Our guys can fight back and try to get a ruck where you can stop their offloads and great running skills.”
He said fast players under 30, such as Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Ethan Hooker, Grant Williams and Morné van den Berg, bring energy and speed to the scramble defence.
Many of the older Springboks can keep up. They also bring calmness to the defence, and both speed and composure were important, Erasmus said.
Ligue Europa : l’OM privé de ses supporters face à Besiktas
L’Olympique de Marseille devra commencer sa campagne de Ligue Europa loin de son public. Pour le déplacement à Istanbul face au Besiktas, le 17 septembre, les supporters marseillais ne seront pas autorisés à faire le voyage. Une décision de l’UEFA qui trouve son origine dans les incidents survenus lors du déplacement de l’OM à Bruges, en janvier dernier, avec notamment l’utilisation de feux d’artifice.
Une sanction qui rattrape Marseille
La mesure intervient alors que l’OM s’apprête à retrouver la scène européenne dans un contexte déjà délicat. Le club phocéen reste sous le coup d’un sursis de deux ans, conséquence des sanctions disciplinaires prononcées après les incidents de Bruges. L’interdiction de déplacement à Istanbul constitue donc un nouveau volet de ce dossier disciplinaire.
Cette décision prive surtout Marseille d’un soutien qui aurait compté dans l’un des déplacements les plus attendus de cette phase de Ligue Europa. Le Tüpraş Stadyumu accueillera un duel entre deux clubs à forte identité populaire, mais le parcage visiteur restera vide côté marseillais. Le calendrier prévoit cette affiche le 17 septembre à 21 heures.
L’OM devra lancer sa campagne sans son douzième homme
La nouvelle arrive au mauvais moment pour une équipe marseillaise qui cherche encore son équilibre. Avec deux défaites en trois journées de Ligue 1, dont celle concédée au Vélodrome face au Paris FC (2-3), l’OM n’aborde pas cette parenthèse européenne dans les meilleures dispositions.
La Ligue Europa devait offrir à Marseille l’occasion de changer de décor et de repartir sur une autre dynamique. Le déplacement à Istanbul aurait dû être l’un des premiers grands rendez-vous de la saison pour les supporters. Il se fera finalement sans eux, dans une enceinte où l’ambiance sera entièrement acquise au Besiktas.
Ironie du calendrier, cette interdiction intervient quelques jours seulement après que l’UEFA et plusieurs acteurs du football européen ont justement appelé à limiter le recours aux interdictions collectives de déplacement, en privilégiant autant que possible la responsabilité individuelle.
Pour l’OM, le constat est donc simple : il faudra entrer dans cette Ligue Europa sans son public derrière lui et avec l’obligation de donner rapidement une autre image sur le terrain. À Istanbul, Marseille devra trouver seul les ressources pour lancer enfin sa saison européenne.
The post Ligue Europa : l’OM privé de ses supporters face à Besiktas appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
‘There’s no Brodie to fix All Blacks set-piece’
At odds with World Rugby’s views on scrum laws, Dave Rennie says the buck stops him as New Zealand look to avoid more punishment from the Springboks on Saturday.
Last week’s 29-24 loss at FNB Stadium handed South Africa a 2-1 series lead in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, the Boks powering to victory on the back of a first-half penalty try and a ferocious second-half maul finished off by Malcolm Marx.
Speaking in the build-up to the finale, Rennie didn’t shy away from where the Kiwis came up short in Joburg.
KIWI SCRIBE: All Blacks can’t play with ‘big boys’
“I mean, the buck stops with me in the end. I think that scrum [last week]; you have a look at that scrum, we were poor and got punished,” he told the media in an online conference. “It’s a pretty easy decision for the referee, to be honest.”
The maul was equally costly, Rennie explained, pointing to a defensive read that broke down entirely.
“The maul, we competed in the middle and we’re supposed to compete at the tail on that one. The reason is, given the front, we can defend the front. But we went up in the middle and then we had no one in front of that maul once it started, and so we never recovered.
“Considering where that started and where that finished, we should do better.”
He admitted part of that breakdown comes down to experience missing from his pack. “There’s no Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock out there who can say, ‘Oh, they’re defending a little bit differently, let’s go to this or that’.
“That’s where we’re at, and we’ve got to develop those guys quickly. We’ve got no option. This set-piece has to be better and so we can’t hide from it.”
JK: Carter defensive errors really cost us
Rennie, though, remains conflicted by World Rugby’s take on how the scrum is being judged.
“We can talk about scrums, but clearly our view and the view of World Rugby and the officials is different, so you just have to deal with that,” he said.
“They don’t see it the way we do and they’re the ones that matter on game day, so we will have to be better.
“I just don’t want it to be the big topic. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be more accurate and limit the number of scrums they have.
“I don’t really want to talk about the scrum because in the end that was not the deciding factor [last week]. That maul where they scored under the posts – that was a big moment in the game.”
Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The post ‘There’s no Brodie to fix All Blacks set-piece’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
‘There’s no Brodie to fix All Blacks set-piece’
At odds with World Rugby’s views on scrum laws, Dave Rennie says the buck stops with him as New Zealand look to avoid more punishment from the Springboks on Saturday.
Last week’s 29-24 loss at FNB Stadium handed South Africa a 2-1 series lead in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, the Boks powering to victory on the back of a first-half penalty try and a ferocious second-half maul finished off by Malcolm Marx.
Speaking in the build-up to the finale, Rennie didn’t shy away from where the Kiwis came up short in Joburg.
KIWI SCRIBE: All Blacks can’t play with ‘big boys’
“I mean, the buck stops with me in the end. I think that scrum [last week]; you have a look at that scrum, we were poor and got punished,” he told the media in an online conference. “It’s a pretty easy decision for the referee, to be honest.”
The maul was equally costly, Rennie explained, pointing to a defensive read that broke down entirely.
“The maul, we competed in the middle and we’re supposed to compete at the tail on that one. The reason is, given the front, we can defend the front. But we went up in the middle and then we had no one in front of that maul once it started, and so we never recovered.
“Considering where that started and where that finished, we should do better.”
He admitted part of that breakdown comes down to experience missing from his pack.
“There’s no Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock out there who can say, ‘Oh, they’re defending a little bit differently, let’s go to this or that’.
“That’s where we’re at, and we’ve got to develop those guys quickly. We’ve got no option. This set-piece has to be better and so we can’t hide from it.”
JK: Carter defensive errors really cost us
Rennie, though, remains conflicted by World Rugby’s take on how the scrum is being judged.
“We can talk about scrums, but clearly our view and the view of World Rugby and the officials is different, so you just have to deal with that,” he said.
“They don’t see it the way we do and they’re the ones that matter on game day, so we will have to be better.
“I just don’t want it to be the big topic. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be more accurate and limit the number of scrums they have.
“I don’t really want to talk about the scrum because in the end that was not the deciding factor [last week]. That maul where they scored under the posts – that was a big moment in the game.”
Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The post ‘There’s no Brodie to fix All Blacks set-piece’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.