P Divvie stating the obvious said the Springboks have work to do on their scrum.
The Boks came off the first four-try bonus point win of this year’s Tri-Nations and is two points away from winning the Cup, all this with two games to go for the Boks. The Springboks scored two beautiful tries from first phase ball, a rarity in Rugby these days but faltered in the scrum, where the Wallaby front row forced them into error and conceding 15 penalties, a good number of these emanating from the set piece.
De Villiers had the following to say after the match: “We never had the platform to play off, but we still managed to play with the kind of ball we had.”
“Our defence was good, our kicking was outstanding, as it always is, and we passed the ball and scored four tries.”
He admitted there would be a review of his team’s scrum problems ahead of next weekend’s encounter with the Wallabies.
“We will definitely look [on video] at our scrums and see if we were hard done by or if we did anything bad, and then we try to improve on that one and set the platform there,” he said.
“I think we will be back [next week].”
People in the know in Australia has been hinting at the improving Wallaby front row for a while now, you hear words like ‘technically very good’ coupled with something like ‘lacking experience’ which over time can only improve. So, are we looking at a much improved Wallaby front row or are we suddenly seeing the weakness of a converted hooker at tighthead, as some pundits warned us about? I have also heard a lot about the impact a tighthead lock can have on the scrum, did everything go pear-shaped when Bekker came on? I will leave the technicalities to someone like Tighthead who already suggested we packing to high in the scrum. I assume the answer is a combination of all of the above, hopefully we have the knowhow in the Bok camp and it can be sorted out quickly.
P Divvie also did not let the opportunity slip to have a dig at his detractors and the ref:
“I said we could play total rugby and we did as the guys made brilliant decisions. When the space was there to run it we did,” De Villiers said.
“I was happy with the character they showed. There were a few calls that went against us, we were at sixes and sevens in the scrums and we didn’t know what would come next.”
“But we bounced above the situation and showed character to stand up as a team and to play with the scraps that we got.”
I hope the ‘quick fix’ for the front row is not seen as a friendly chat with the ref before the game! There are bigger problems than just that to work on.
@Tripples – #29
noodksap-boodskap :blush:
Burton Francis = Earl the Pearl Tiger Woods Rose
25@Tripples – Ek dink ek moet K9 en Ed en Scrumdown en WilladieLeeu net tydelik Ban hier, tot die geswelde koppe bietjie gesak het…. hulle gaan hulself geweldig skade berokken met sulke groot koppe !
@Tripples – 28 👿
en nou praat ek met myself 😥
@grootblousmile – #33 ag shame gbs, gun hulle hulle tydjie in die son, dit gebeur nie dikwels nie… 😉
@grootblousmile – Gun ons ons oomblik in die son. En daar is niks so bevredigend as om die bulle te wen nie. Yum!!!
21@Tripples –
i think deans is gonna have quite a week in front of him … think his biggest concern is gonna be the gameplan the bokke will use next saturday … will they “revert back” to the plan used at home, will they not, do they have other (nasty) surprises up their sleeve?
…
this is maybe the nicest thing about the game we played on saturday and our willingness to keep ball in hand … the uncertainty opposition coaches will have to deal with!
ek dink dit was die einde van die griekwas gewees…..wat ‘n blerrie pakslae hehehehehehehe, well done cheaters
37@K9-MonsterLeeu – Pure bliss vir jou, K999…. geniet dit hierdie week tjom….
Persoonlik dink ek die Bulls gaan nog ‘n valve blaas teen die WIEPEE komende naweek ook…. oi !
@ashley – I agree
Bet the Convicts and the AB’s are sorry they ever criticized our kicking rugby hehehehehe….
Nou gaan ons hulle ver wen!!!
I also only had one correct pick for the w\end. And that was only because I picked with my heart and not my head in the WP game !! LOL , I suck !!
@Tripples – Ja dink die Kwas se rug is nou gebreek…….gaan nie die semis sien nie. Jammer.
@grootblousmile – #40 stem saam, dit gaan beroerd gaan Saterdag
@grootblousmile – Ask yourself this question , would Jake White have picked Brussouw under the same circumstances ? Therein lies the answer.
If memory serves me right did’nt Brussouw earn his first cap under Div on the European tour ? Div never said he did not want to pick Brussouw , he was just unhappy to lose Burger who incidently looked the party against the Aussies on the w\end , never write of Burger !
@sparty – #42 Sparty at least this weekend you pick with your heart….bulls are pathetic at this stage….
Wat ek net wil weet is waar de hel is WO? hoekom speel hy nie nou vir die bulle nie?
Ok mensies en Leeus, ek gaan groet praat miskien later weer….
@Tripples – nie nodig om nou ongeskik te wees net omdat jou span verloor het nie 😉
45@sparty – Look, I’ve been critical all along, even in Jake’s time about the lack of respect for employment of a specialist fetcher…
Now we have a fetcher, in fact we’re busy developing an almost perfect loosie-trio!!
Spies is starting to stand out more and more in tight games, his hands behind the scrum is improving….
Our Blindside options (Juan & Schalla) are exactly what we need there… tackling demons, who also carry the ball up strongly…
For the first time in a very long time we have better than parity when competing for ground ball and fighting the collision areas…
@sparty – 6
Maybe somebody answered you already i just started reading this conversation. Just look at what was PdV criticized for, he wanted to throw structured settled play out of the window for a helter skelter type of game, he dropped that idea very quickly.
He also started to drop the settled and experienced Boks, who was in the prime of their careers, out of his team and that was also stopped.
At the moment he is adding something to those Boks and the results is spectacular, lovely.
@sparty – I spent most of last year critisizing Snor for his coaching, and much of this year for his antics and substitutions. But, hell man, results don’t lie. He is doing something right with the Boks, they are winning and for that he must be congratulated and supported.
WP JOU LEKKER DING!!!!!!!!
K9, who are we supporting this weekend, Bulls or WP?
@superBul –
First off Div never wanted to throw out structured rugby and play helter Skelter rugby , he wanted us to play total rugby ie , play a brand of rugby where we can score in any way the situation dictate or even better where we dictate the situation. Last Saturday was a perfect example of what he wants us to do. We played expansive rugby and where FDp scored , the Aussies turned their backs cos they thought we were going to take the 3 pointer , we scored twice off backline moves from first phase ball!! Was they ever done in a Bok jersey against the Aussies ? and to top it off we showed them why we are regarded as the best kick and chasers in world rugby.
We all knew our strenth was in playing a kick and chase forward dominated rugby , we know how to win without the rugby ball what Div wanted was to add to our aresenal and empower the players to decided if A dont work lets try B. Many people weer saying we dont have a plan B , well the truth is simply we dont have a plan A , instead we play and not plan total rugby. The problem I had with Div I think is that he tried to make changes too soon.
I dont remember him dropping any senior settled boks ?? In fact he flew to France to bring back John Smith to lead the boks ?? Also he was chastised by eveyone for wanting to stick to Schalk Burger and backing his player.
The big thing is , we can get better.
@grootblousmile – I agree , is it not great to be fighting over who is better for the Boks between Schalk and Juan ?? What a luxury to have and for the record Schalk looked the part this past w\end!! I cannot believe there were people that was ready to right him off , not after how he came back from a life threatening neck injury before ,the man is all heart and only 26 years old !! 2 world cup veteran at that age ?? He could play another WC easily !!
55@sparty – YES WE CAN!
Actually if you think about it Schalk could play another 2 World Cups , I highly doubt it though
@sparty – That is of course if he doesn’t stick his finger in someones eye [or any other orifice for that matter].
@Loosehead – uhm WP.
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