Boks stand firm, despite Dave Rennie's call to World Rugby
All Black coach Dave Rennie turned up the heat on the Springbok scrum, ahead of the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday, by running to World Rugby for ‘some clarity’ on the legitimacy of the powerful South African scrum.
The wily New Zealand mentor planted the seeds of doubt by suggesting the Boks were ‘walking around’ in their dominant set-piece performance last week at Ellis Park, a game the All Blacks won 33-16.
Rennie doubled down this week with a call to World Rugby about the legitimacy of South Africa’s antics in the scrums.
The Boks dominated the set pieces, getting ‘easy entries’ into the All Black 22-metre area with a rash of scrum penalties.
“We have spoken to World Rugby around a couple of issues from our point of view,” Rennie told the media this week, when asked about the penalties they conceded at Ellis Park.
“Our scrum will be a lot better,” Rennie added.
“That was a massive in for them last week.”
Rennie wants the Boks to ‘scrum square’ and not be allowed to step sideways and walk around.
However, prop Thomas du Toit, brought in to replace Zach Porthen on the Springbok bench, dismissed the suggestion that they did anything illegal or outside of the game’s laws.
The 31-year-old, capped 34 times, said they again ‘worked hard’ on their set pieces.
(WATCH as veteran Springbok Thomas du Toit reacts to All Black coach Dave Rennie’s decision to ask World Rugby for help to solve their scrum concerns…..)
“Like every week, the scrum battle will be interesting,” Du Toit said.
He declined to comment on Rennie’s law overtures with World Rugby.
“We try and stay within the laws of the game as much as we can and as much as we perceive it,” Du Toit said.
“There are always two sides to the coin,” he added.
“The referee can only blow what he sees in front of him.
“So much credit has to go to referees, the way they see these things.
“In hindsight everything is easier to look at.
“One person’s straight is another person’s walking around.
“Yes, you could probably make a case both ways.”
He said the Boks will continue to focus on what they do well and ‘hopefully get rewarded for it’.
Another win by the All Blacks would ensure them of at least a share of the spoils in the four-Test series.
But the main theme of this week’s buildup has been about a backlash from South Africa.
The Boks haven’t lost two Tests in a row anywhere since November 2022, in Ireland then in France, and not at home since August 2015 against Argentina then New Zealand.
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