The scrums vs Ireland.....interesting video

The scrums are covered here in an interesting video which captures all the action. The Bok scrum is not hammered at the hit. In fact in several scrums it's inching forward, only to be disrupted by what appears to be a deliberate Irish wheel onto Wilco. Lots of shenanigans from the Irish, we of course were clueless.

 Interesting indeed! You say we had no clue, but neither did the ref it seems. We lost this match at scrum time. NZ and Aus can cope without being dominant at scrum time. The Boks go to pieces if we struggle in the set pieces and lose the collisions.  Ad a back 3 that can't even catch one high ball and you've got a recipe for disaster.  The Irish did their homework well. The Boks thought their show against NZ at Newlands would carry them through. Ireland studied that test well and managed to nullify everything that we did well against the Allblacks. Good coaching and execution.  Well done to the other green team...very well done indeed!

 Mozart
Interesting observation = but for that kind of strategy to work there needs to be  a weak link amongst the props and the weak link was Mtawarira.    

I have said many times that I am, probably like most around here in any case, no expert when it comes to scrumming. These are the a remarks by someone whose opinion I value. Someone who is actively involved in coaching and not just an armchair “expert” like most of us. “The scrums were in fact very well policed. One of the better performances by a referee in recent time. That first scrum, the Irish had a slight upper-hand and Wilco then slipped, which destabilised the scrum. Beast then went down... Hardly anything to write home about. In terms of general strength the teams were very close, but technically, the Irish were superior. When the Irish went forward, they went forward as a unit, when they went back, they stayed a unit and was able to hold the Boks. When the Boks went forward, they looked okay, but when they went back the whole scrum fell apart (definitely not a unit) and that is where we had problems at scrum time. For me, this video merely shows a hard battle and a great effort at scrum time, but they weren't good technically... An then it all fell apart when the bench came on...” If this guy is correct as far as the technical superiority of the Irish is concerned, it surely has to put the so-called brilliance of Matthew Proudfoot in question.

 Like I said before, we normally struggle against the Irish, because they can handle the physical stuff and give some back with interest. Our scrum will improve as a unit. The Irish scrum is a settled unit with lo ts of xp and they are used to the conditions.  The scrums might have been policed well, but it looked like their LH was scrumming into Wilco...but I'm no expert.

These scrums were very close. Healy sets for the scrum with his outside leg well forward of his inside leg....check it out. That has to have the effect of pushing inwards. And anybody who thinks the Beast was worse than Kitshoff Is not using his eyes....our scrum cracked mostly on Wilco’s side. He is our best tighthead prospect, but he seems to be unwilling to take a step back.....so if the pressure becomes too much he goes down. That seems like a technical adjustment, we have to keep our shape going back. .. If you look at Furlong he feints back sometimes at engage which stretched out the Beast, but Beast was strong enough to come back up. A lesser loosehead would have ploughed and claimed hinging. Kitshoff is a fine player, but not an obviously better scrummager to my eye. .. Our guys were scrumming straight and fair....the Irish generally as well, but they threw in a few post graduate moves.

 That post grad moves suckered our young lads. They will learn fast though. Dreyer would have been a disaster. 

 Mozart 
Why was Beast penalized and not Louw if Louw was the problem as implied by you?

The Beast and Kitshoff were each penalized once......Louw was penalized twice....does that help? And before you rush off and say I’m anti Louw, I think he’s an excellent young prop who did well despite the tighthead side being targeted by Ireland.

 No Mozart
Check your facts please - Beast was penalized TWICE and that was early in the game.   I am sorry - but the fault started and remained on the loosehead side.   By the time Kitshoff came on Louw was at a stage where props would usually be replaced and he started to weaken.

 Maaik, I can clearly recall one penalty against Wilco. I think that Beast scrummed well and the penalties are sometimes a bit of a joke. Our scrum was solid, but the xp of the Ireland scrum gave them the edge on the day. 

Well there were only 3 penalties against the Bok scrum....Beast at minute 2, Louw at minute 10 and either Louw or Kitshoff at minute 75 but I think it was Louw cause the ref says ‘backwards and around’....and Louw was going backwards while the loosehead was wheeling forwards. .. The problem with your logic Tokkie is you assume the only penalty a prop can get is at scrum time.

 So you say ESPN stats are lies?   Beast was definitely penalized twice in scrums and you have been caught out again - admit it.

No...I don’t. I say it’s possible that a prop got a penalty for play not related to scrums......rather proven by the fact that there were 5 penalties to Bok props, but only 3 penalties against the Bok scrum.

Keep on dreaming about the scrum penalties and don't let reality wake you up.  

No need to dream, I studied the video clip. But feel free to docu.ment the scrums you thought led to penalties against the Boks with their time stamps.

 Second scrum - Beast went down on his knees - penalized.  Third scrum - Beast went on a walk-around - he is penalized.

Nope....the Beast was penalized in the first scrum....in the second scrum Louw was penalized as the commentator noted.

 Balls and go and see what was ibn fact the situation.   So Louw got penalized in two scrums, the second one and the late one?   The referee clearly indicated that Beast did a walk-about in the second scrum where you indicated Louw was penalized.  What a farce you make of descriptions.  

Not my words, that’s what the commentator said. The Beast does not scrum around....we have watched him for 10 years. When he came around the reason was our tighthead side faded, actually in every scrum except minute 27 and 34....both of which should have been penalties against Ireland if the ref was consistent. For the rest Wilco cracked and the Irish then wheeled hard against him. The scrum at minute 37 and the two scrums when Kitshoff was on were case in points. .. All these collapses never occurred on the hit as they do with Dreyer.....it was after the ball was hooked. It was almost as if our guys never sustained the shove. .. Here’s what Rugby 24 said: .. ‘Louw and the rest of the Bok side were completely outclassed by the Irish, who dominated every aspect of the game as they cruised to a 38-3 win. One of the star performers for Western Province in this year's Currie Cup final win over the Sharks, Louw found the going tough as the Irish had the upper hand at scrum time’

 Wilco will take it on the chin and become a better player. He's still a rook.

Agreed....by WC 2019 he is going to be one of the best in the game. The Irish shifted all the torque onto his side Saturday and not surprisingly he struggled.

 Mozart
I am not blind - I saw what the referee indicated in the case of the second scrum and indicated that beast did a walk-about in that scrum,.   Anyway you have obviously decided top ignore the stats in this case - so good luck if you believe your own tales - others don't.

 Well at least you finally realized the second scrum was actually the first scrum replayed....and the third scrum was actually the second scrum. One has to be thankful for small things.

 Sure 
I am thankful that I did not fa ll for your misleading comments.