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Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Boks hooker Bongi calls for 'fair contest' in scrum against Ireland

The South Africans say they want a fair competition in the set-piece.

THE SPRINGBOKS EARNED a crucial scrum penalty try last weekend but they werenโ€™t satisfied with how the battle in that area of the first Test went against Ireland.

Hooker Bongi Mbonambi has called for a โ€œfair 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.

โ€œIn 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.

โ€œItโ€™s 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 thereโ€™s 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.

a-general-view-of-a-scrum A scrum in the first Test. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

โ€œWith the injuries, itโ€™s part of the game, it happens,โ€ he said. โ€œThe other hooker, Kelleher, heโ€™s quite a good scrummager, heโ€™s more physical, so itโ€™s definitely not going to be easier.

โ€œThey do have a top-class front row and just one injury in the pack doesnโ€™t really make a difference. Weโ€™re expecting a hard challenge when it comes to scrumming but weโ€™ll 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.

โ€œWith Jerry coming in, it has helped,โ€ said Mbonambi. โ€œJerry and Duane [Vermeulen] have been trying to improve our breakdown skills. Jaco [Peyper] is also teaching us the laws.

โ€œWeโ€™re looking at things like, you know, when can we counter ruck? When is the ball out?

โ€œObviously, 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.

โ€œWe have someone like Duane whoโ€™s been doing it for years and he knows all the ground skills and also having Jaco Peyper teaching us the laws when youโ€™re onside and when youโ€™re offside.

โ€œAnd also, Jerry is doing an awesome, fantastic job, teaching us exactly how the Irish players attack our rucks.โ€

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    Mute Shane O'Connell
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:45 PM

    Some cheat.about time he is being exposed.

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    Mute Chris O Connor
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:47 PM

    Who cares??? World economy in the shit, Israel and Iran about to push buttons, people dying and starving and they pick on lance, Iโ€™m sorry but whatโ€™s the big deal, the only way to live in this world is to be ON a shit load of drugs!!!

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    Mute Tom Keating
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:51 PM

    When you put it that way, I guess, โ€œwho caresโ€!

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:53 PM

    Who cares about anything?

    Eh?

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    Mute Tiarnรกn Byrne
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:58 PM

    Chris, in the words of TD Simon Harris โ€˜Chillaxโ€™. Yes the world is a little crazy, but I donโ€™t think The Journal is going to stop reporting the whole spectrum of the news just because thereโ€™s some other more serious stories out there!

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    Mute Gordon Bernard
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:15 PM

    Not much the doping or cycling federation (or whatever itโ€™s called) can do about Iran, Israel, or world hunger or the global economy. Theyโ€™re doing their job, so whatโ€™s your problem? Not great logic in your comment.

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    Mute Tom Keating
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:46 PM

    โ€œCheatStrongโ€ from now on?

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    Mute Gerard Fitzgerald
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:02 PM

    i saw a picture of lance on his deathbed,drawn bald pale as a ghost,the next time i saw him,he was winning big cycling races,ffs come on people,yo dont come that close to dying from that disease and go on to be the greatest cyclist in the worlds hardest sport,KEEP IT REAL!

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    Mute Gis Bayertz
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:24 PM

    Heโ€™s not the greatest if he achieved his victories by cheating

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    Mute Barry Murphy
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    Oct 12th 2012, 12:45 AM

    Not the greatest. Just the most successful tour rider of all time. Not the greatest though. Do you know anything about the exceptional athlete he was long before cycling?

    Didnโ€™t think so.

    Read, educate & then respond with a comment.

    Thank you

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 12th 2012, 2:21 AM

    duhhhhhhh

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    Mute joe stodge
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:34 PM

    Still waiting on proof.

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 5:43 PM

    Hark! Hark! Another ostrich.

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    Mute john cleary
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:11 PM

    Open your eyes and ears, Joe.

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    Mute Johnny Furlong
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:54 PM

    Lance is a disgrace and is nothing more than a junkie and drug dealer. The UCI is also a morally corrupt organisation and its a shame that it is run by an Irishman.

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    Mute Johnny Furlong
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:00 PM

    @joe here is some proof the following is from the usada โ€œThe evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming and is in excess of 1000 pages, and includes sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the US Postal Service Team (USPS Team) and its participantsโ€™ doping activities. The evidence also includes direct documentary evidence including financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong and confirm the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in fundingโ€

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    Mute tony duggan
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:43 PM

    7 in a row , proof right there for god sake!!

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    Mute Derek Durkin
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:13 PM

    Just shows you the lure of money and fame can corrupt most, probably justified it in his head that it was worth it to give him the platform his charity got. Was a massive fan but no sympathy for him now.

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    Mute Wayne Yore
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:22 PM

    How strong was his arm after all the lancing?

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    Mute mattoid
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:28 PM

    haha! lol!

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    Mute john cleary
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:20 PM
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    Mute Steve
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:00 PM

    we donโ€™t know what the most sophisticated doping operation ever is because itโ€™s been sophisticated enough to thus far avoid exposure

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:16 PM

    Itโ€™s a good job then that the USADA report said that this the most sophisticated one ever โ€œseenโ€.

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    Mute Steve
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:34 PM

    a fair point my good man.

    My more general point is that cycling has been forced to take anti-doping seriously. In most sports it amounts to little more than window dressing. We have no idea what lurks beneath the surface.

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    Mute Geoff Coleman
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:31 PM

    Considering the difficulty in finding a true clean winner in the field of cyclists that Arnstrong beat, it could be viewed as a level playing field as such that nearly all the athletes are doping to a degree.

    Not saying its right but donโ€™t think taking any performance enhancing substance made him immediately amazing, he still put in a hell of a lot of gruelling training.

    We as consumers of sport demand so much of athletes that we do support the use of such performance enhancing drugs. We want to see world records beaten, bigger hits in contact sports. Look at baseball and barry bonds! I think the reward of taking something is too much of a draw for many, to be the best and get huge paychecks and contracts. Hard to not do it.

    Only my opinions, feel free to disagree!

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:33 PM

    Nonsense, from start to finish.

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    Mute Nivag Yeoh
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    Oct 10th 2012, 11:53 PM

    โ€œnearly all the athletes are doping to a degree.โ€ Unquantifiable but not beyond realm of possibility. What of the genuinely clean athletes though?
    โ€œhe still put in a hell of a lot of gruelling training.โ€ Of course. He also put in a lot of work with the best dope doctors around, made sure all his team doped and bullied any dissent into silence or banishment.
    โ€œwe do support the use of such performance enhancing drugsโ€. Not me.

    I understand youโ€™re coming at it from a different angle but itโ€™s ultimately a flawed stance.

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    Mute Michael Cunningham
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    Oct 11th 2012, 12:51 AM

    Sweet mother of Jesus, what a post! Please tell me youโ€™re taking the p*ss.

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    Mute Dermot Crawford
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    Oct 10th 2012, 7:52 PM
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    Mute Martin Buckley
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    Oct 10th 2012, 6:45 PM

    dopes

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