The Scrums

The Boks were dominant as long as the Beast was on the park. Sure Malherbe bested Vunipola, but the English scrum was being lifted on their starboard side by the Beast, who in one  scrum had Coles way off the ground.

When Koch and Kitshoff came on they had one winning scrum, with Koch driving Vunipola back. Then Marler came on and immediately extracted 2 penalties from Koch.  After that the Boks were generally on the defensive, but cleared  the ball quickly.

The dominant scrummager was the Beast and to a lesser extent Malherbe. Koch struggled with Marler and Kitshoff was a neutral as usual, even against Coles who looked out of his depth against the Beast and had to scrum the whole game

This  match pretty much ruined the whole Coles mystique. Likewise Vunipola who was being touted again as the best loosehead in the game was shown up as a mere pretender.

The belly flopper Malherbe has come good. I take my words back.

I can recall one scrum penalty against us when our props slipped/lost footing...but our starting front row is obviously our best combo. I liked the fact that Rassie played the two front rows as units...it obviously strengthened the combination between them....and that goes for the whole team. It seems like the only changes made were forced by injury.

That's not how I remember it Moz. England dominated the second scrum after we brought on our replacement front row. After that we had the slight upper hand for a couple of scrums, though they were tightly contested, but in the last quarter of the game we again dominated their scrum and started winning penalties as a result. 

Our scr um bested every opponent this year .......... bravo to the fatbellies.

Vintage Beast,remember what he did to the British Lions when they toured ,down in Durban in that first test in 2009.

Beast was the star of the final. Without that scrum dominance this becomes a very different contest and, perhaps, a different result. I don't normally regard our scrumming, or trust it, but dominance like that cannot be ignored. In 2009 and 2013 our scrums were particularly potent. Where we achieve great success there are numerous things that come together, and dominant scrumming is always one of them. The Beast turned that final on its head. 

Where was he prior to the final? I rest my case. He was demoted for a reason, not playing well. Of course, perhaps Rassie was another stupid person who knows nothing about rugby too! I love how you pin yourself into a corner. 

Corner your arse? That'll have Lügnerin come undone! 

To label Beast a quota is perhaps the most disgraceful thing posted on here throughout the World Cup period. Kits was slow around the field, lethargic, and not so secure in the scrums. Beast was no quota, he earned his spot. Now, Kits has to show he can be as consistent and as reliable as Beast was. A rather tall order, as Beast is one of the most consistent Boks I have ever seen.

hey if u guys have quota for colour... does kitshoff get in for quote of ginger? we call them rangas in aust... not sure if that caught elsewhere or not..

Ranga is shortened derivative from Orangutan = ginger ape from borneo....

Rangas are generally pretty fiesty.

Kitshoff is a damn fine ranga prop

"Beast was good but is black - you get the picture idiot?"

Not the sharpest flint in the hunting pouch.

"Beast is not a quota, yet him being black means he was selected ahead of a more deserving white player. Yet, he is not a quota, remember that. If you can't work that out then you are f***** stupid"

Sure Saffy, sure. 

Auge, I think, according to Saffex "Quota Player" is reserved for players that are undeserving, and selected purely because of their skin tone. I think that Dave prefers the younger players, but still believe the darker tone  got the nod because of AA...Proper AA where the POC gets the nod if there's not much of a difference, opposed to forced unmerited  selections.

Only in SA...

Edit:

PS, I think any kind of AA or race based decisions of any kind is just plain wrong. It keeps the focus on race...we should forget about race altogether.

Second half scrums:

43.56 ....first scrum with Kitshoff/Koch....both English props going backwards.....but Mako breaks to give the Boks a penalty.

47.35.......Marler on for Mako.....Kitshoff  pushes Coles back,  Koch is struggling but the Poms  get penalized for wheeling....a close call, Kitshoff looks like he is coming around the side and loses his footing.

49.29.....Our whole loosehead side is dominated and breaks up....penalty for the Poms

64.28....Marx pops out but Boks clear it quickly.

68.29....Kitshoff has Coles in a bit of trouble, but Vunipola clears quickly

70.23.....Koch flat on his belly as Marler dominates but maybe with a touch of hinging....Garcia lets it go.

77.03...A long scrum with initial parity, then Marler drives through Koch and Boks clear going backwards.

78.55....A final meaningless scrum....nobody is trying very hard now. Boks win their ball without any fuss.

........

So Bloo you are right, after Marler comes on it's a penalty a piece. For the remaining scrums Marler had Koch in a bit of trouble, and there were no penalties in the last quarter.

There was no clear winner in the battle after the Beast and Mako left. It's in the eye of the beholder. I think Marler was the dominant scrummager at that point....but it was close.

And that's the point, the Beast totally dominated Coles....Kitshoff maybe bested a tired Coles marginally. My motivation in posting this is to give the Beast a fair shake....he gets very little attention in the new set up. Yesterday's man. But he did . more to win us that WC final than anybody except perhaps Vermeulen

Beast was a key player for us for sure...and I think/hope he has a season or two left in the tank...hope he can cash in on a nice European deal.

Mozart

I agree with you on the scrumming issue after departure of Beast and Malherbe.  Beast was top class and I have no problem to state that clearly.   I like Kitshof, but think at thiss tage I am happy with Beast to start and Kitshof replacing him from the bench. 

However, Malherbe gave Vulinpola a real scrumming lesson and he was always a factor too 0 yet you do not seem to give him any credit  for scrumming at all.    

I do give Malherbe credit....I say clearly he bested Vunipola. I also gave him credit for one of the three big tackles which won the match. Read the material again.