THE SPRINGBOKS EARNED a crucial scrum penalty try last weekend but they werenโt satisfied with how the battle in that area of the first Test went against Ireland.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi has called for a โfair contestโ at the scrum in the second Test, which will be refereed by Englishman Karl Dickson.
In the first Test, referee Luke Pearce awarded Ireland a free-kick at a first-half scrum after deciding the South Africans had engaged early.
Pearce upgraded to a penalty when he felt it had happened again in the second half but the Boks finished on top at scrum time, winning a key penalty in the 64th minute and then earning the penalty try in the 78th minute to seal their win.
Mbonambi voiced his frustrations about those early decisions against the Boks.
โIn the first half, we got frustrated because Ireland obviously looked to play a lot of tricks at scrum time, where we just want a fair competition, we want a fair contest at the scrum,โ said Mbonambi yesterday.
โItโs somewhere where we definitely have to learn, to train this week and learn our lessons from the previous game. The Bomb Squad did an amazing job and the penalty try was very satisfying for everyone. But thereโs a lot of improvement to be done when it comes to scrumming against them.โ
Ireland have lost first-choice hooker Dan Shehan to an ACL injury, with Rรณnan Kelleher set to replace him in the number two shirt and Mbonambi expects another set-piece tussle.
โWith the injuries, itโs part of the game, it happens,โ he said. โThe other hooker, Kelleher, heโs quite a good scrummager, heโs more physical, so itโs definitely not going to be easier.
โThey do have a top-class front row and just one injury in the pack doesnโt really make a difference. Weโre expecting a hard challenge when it comes to scrumming but weโll prepare ourselves and hopefully the scrum will get more rewards.โ
One of the other areas Mbonambi is keen to nail is the breakdown, where the Springboks gave up five turnovers to Ireland in the first Test.
The 33-year-old hooker said new defence coach Jerry Flannery has been key to helping the Boks understand what Ireland are keen to do at the breakdown.
โWith Jerry coming in, it has helped,โ said Mbonambi. โJerry and Duane [Vermeulen] have been trying to improve our breakdown skills. Jaco [Peyper] is also teaching us the laws.
โWeโre looking at things like, you know, when can we counter ruck? When is the ball out?
โObviously, we know that the Irish team is definitely going to come harder than they did at Loftus. I mean, they pride themselves at sort of shortening the rucks, getting to our nine and slowing down our ball. We saw how it impacted our play when they start getting on to Faf [de Klerk] and all that and shortening our rucks.
โWe have someone like Duane whoโs been doing it for years and he knows all the ground skills and also having Jaco Peyper teaching us the laws when youโre onside and when youโre offside.
โAnd also, Jerry is doing an awesome, fantastic job, teaching us exactly how the Irish players attack our rucks.โ
They have little to complain about the ref last week
Last Saturdays refereeing left a lot to be required
In other words the Saffies want all the decisions in their favourโฆ.
Interesting comments from this guy last year about white people. Also whatโs with the piped music they play in the stadium? Nikki Minage needed to get the crowd going. Embarrassing!
@James Rowan: Alleged comments. Bongi was cleared. There was no evidence of wrongdoing.
@James Rowan: the music is a joke alright
Or maybe just focus on avoiding neck rolls and high off-side tackles. Those refs clearly favoured the Boks.
No doubt the message from Erasmus was to mention the scrums and jaco peyper as much as possible ie we know the rules and wouldnโt cheat. Itโs laughable that this clown is talking about fairness when heโs trying to influence the ref before the game has even started. Iโd be embarrassed if the Ireland coach and team resorted to these pathetic tactics. Thereโs zero integrity in south African rugby with Erasmus at the helm.
TMO was a disgrace for Lowes โtryโ. Our โoffendingโ player was being neck rolled at ruck. The very least that should have resulted was our penalty and we would have had a line out close to the whitewash.
The Springboks have never lost a fair fight, everyone know that.
Christ, do these SA girls ever stop whinning
Donโt understand the complaints about the ref. Luke Pearce is a good ref. Doris was giving out to him too much. Be polite and overly respectful and youโll get the rewards.
And Iโve complained before about Whitehouse being overly pedantic. Just unfortunate that he stopped being that way in a game where it could have benefitted us.
@James Daly: he was challenging the ref because crucial decisions were being made incorrectly. Maybe Ireland should hire Andy Lacey to explain to the media
@James Daly: every major decision went against Irelandโฆ one can say there was little in them, I donโt agree, but Pearce set every decision up for SA by his on field decision โ for Kolbeโs there is simply no way he could know โ he could have said try yes or no. Or looked at the neck roll on Kelleher. Doris did nothing wrong, and great to see him playing and defending his team with such passion.
Thereโs official confirmation of what we always knew, Kelleher is a better scrummager than Sheehan
@Eoin H: itโs official now
The starting SA front row is not going yo do much damage to the Irish one. Malherbeโs best days are gone while Nche has not had the same impact when starting. Itโs the subs on both sides which give SA the advantage.They also have the luxury of being able to call in quality props from any amount of club sides who would not weaken the team. We do not have that luxury and that is our Achillieโs heel.
The game is over you canโt change the result now,move on to Saturday when we beat them ref and all and we will come on Ireland
More attempted referee manipulation. Itโs so sad and pathetic at this point.
My favourite โdark artโ is watching Porter (our biggest bloke) stand in the goal kickerโs eyeline, then either start walking, bend sideways from the hip, or wave his hands above his head just as the kicker starts his run-up. Never gets pinged. Always worth a goโฆ
lol. Pot kettle.
Boks Engaging early or the Irish pulling back early, the Irish dark arts in the scrum, Love it ..
@Stuart: Exactly. Not a fan of some of the stuff thatโs come out of the SA camp but nothing wrong with Bongiโs comments here. Porterโs bind is never, ever straight and itโs clearly an attempt to destabilise the opposing tight head.
@Stuart: dame lots of moaning in comments from so called irish fans
I think itโs just Malherbe is past it and has been for the past season. Fouche, Louw and Koch all clearly better