The Springbok scrum may not have lived up to its own impressive high standards in the wet against the Barbarians, but scrum “doctor” Daan Human is not lying awake at night worried about it.
The Boks admit they are somewhat in a transition stage in the front row, having lost Steven Kitshoff to a career-ending injury and with Frans Malherbe out long term injured as well. Add to that injuries to Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mchunu and the depth at loosehead in particular is a bit thin.
Still, there is enough talent coming through and if players aren’t given the opportunity to prove themselves, then they won’t adapt to the rigours of test rugby.
That’s why Human said he was satisfied with what he saw against the Barbarians, even though many were expecting the Boks to feast on the setpiece, especially as they have dominated the scrum for the past few seasons.
But with newbie Asenathi Ntlabakanye getting his taste of international rugby, along with Neethling Fouche and Marnus van der Merwe, while loosehead replacement Jan-Hendrik Wessels only has 3 test caps to his name, the Boks weren’t harnessing the same expectations as the public in these games.
LOADS OF LEARNINGS
Human knows that more time with the Boks will do these players well and said he had learned a lot from the game in terms of the next generation of Bok front row players, especially against two seasoned French props.
“Yeah, I think we learned a lot, as I just explained our review now to the players.I think we, especially for the new guys, Asenathi, Marnus, even for Jan Hendrik, he only has three or four caps,” Human said.
“I think there was a lot of learning for them as well, and as I explained, the players we actually faced. I had a chat with their scrum coach, who's the head coach at Racing Metro. He said to me, both those guys that actually played on the tighthead side were rated No 1 and No 2 in France, in the French League this year. So I think there's a lot that we can gain out of it going forward. Maybe even for the older guys, we could learn something.
“But there's a lot of experience going there and we know the French mentality. So they made it a big challenge for us. I think for our guys, not just the guys that started, but even the guys who came off the bench, got a lot out of it.”
Human added that the Boks were very good in a lot of areas in the wet.
“I must say defensively we were very good, and I can assure you (attack coach) Tony (Brown) was very happy with the tries that we scored. The learnings were there and we try to get better in every area of the game. I think we got to the point where we try and improve ourselves individually, and not just as a team.”
BOK DEVELOPMENT A LONG TERM PROCESS
Human explained the way the Boks look at props and how they develop them. The roadmap on each player is detailed and has been compiled for years prior to them entering the Springbok fray.
“You know what, we always keep our eye out for players because we have players playing for so many clubs across the world - I think it is 21 that forms the Springbok group. So we keep our eye on all the players, wherever they are playing - in Japan, in France, and obviously in South Africa. Obviously, you want to create a bigger base. The bigger the base is, the more players you can choose from,” he explained.
“Then you need to identify certain players. And that's an advantage, the fact that players can play all over the world. So at the moment, we're trying to develop everyone so that they can get as close as possible to your first choice or second choice.
Once there's an injury, we want to say we are more than comfortable moving them up, but they first have to get into the system. All the players that have been identified were already players that we profiled in the last two years. We've been following them.
“And little by little, if there's something happening, if we get an injury, we are already prepared. I always say, you mustn't concentrate the whole time on your first choice.
You must put more hard work into your second and third and fourth choice, because once they're getting the opportunity, they must be ready, which we're always hoping for.”
The Bok scrum will go up against Italy in the first of two tests on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld with the second test a week later in Gqeberha.