Saru’s scrum solution
17 Mar 2010
Saru is forming an expert panel to address South African’s flagging scrum standards.
The state of the Springbok scrum and the poor performances of South African teams, such as the Sharks and Lions, is a major concern and this has prompted Saru to take action.
Last Thursday, the union organised a meeting with several former players and scrum experts to discuss the formation of a committee to help improve and maintain standards of scrumming from junior level right through to the Springboks.
World Cup-winning prop Balie Swart, who was one of the experts invited to this meeting, is positive this plan will be put into action. Robbie Kempson, Eddie Andrews, Os du Randt, Dougie Heymans were present, as were Saru manager of referees André Watson and official Tappe Henning.
‘The idea is for us to come together and help rebuild the South African scrum,’ Swart told keo.co.za. We will also advise the Bok selectors on who we think are the best scrummagers in the country. The selectors will still have the final say.
‘We are not going straight to the head, we will start working with coaches and players from U9 level so we can have a common understanding of scrumming in the country. For too long have different teams followed their own techniques which has led to mixed results. The committee will ensure everybody, junior and senior players, follow the correct methods.
‘We will also make sure that the techniques used are safe and accurate for all players, so there will be no danger of any serious neck or head injuries.
‘Nothing is concrete yet, we are still busy negotiating, but the word is that Saru has never had a more passionate, engaging meeting like the one we just had. There will be a follow-up soon, I predict some time next month, so I am positive things will fall into place.’
Swart added that no individual player can be criticised for the poor scrum performances by the Boks and Super 14 teams.
‘We used to be a powerful scrumming nation and we want to get back to that level. It’s not only one player who is the problem, it’s all eight men in the pack who hold the responsibility.
‘They are all supposed to be doing the same thing on impact. A lot of people are pointing fingers, but the truth is no individual can be blamed. The scrum techniques of some players are wrong or poor and we need to rectify this.
‘The referees are also not to blame, most of the times they get the calls right. The law is set, and the players need to follow these laws. That’s why André and Tappe were present, to gain a common understanding between players and refs as well.’
Saru manager of coaching Hilton Adonis has confirmed the meeting was successful from the union’s point of view.
‘The meeting was basically a blueprint to see what the chances are of former players or scrum experts being interested in joining the committee to review the scrum matters in the country,’ Adonis told this site. ‘We have identified certain individuals to join the advisory committee or scrum factory and we will meet again soon to take these plans further.’
By Gareth Duncan
– Read about Balie Swart’s mission to save the scrum in the new issue of SA Rugby magazine, on sale now
180 Comments
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17 Mar 2010, 16:04 pm
@grant10:
fella, Wilko was limited even back in his glory days. He played behind the best and most brutish Engl pack ever who earned him all those pens he built his reputation on. And he tackled like no other FH before or since. But I can only remember 1 or 2 flashes of individual flair winning matches, and Ive lived in UK throughout his entire career.
1 thing I do blame him for is this ridiculous proliferation of constipated prayer-meeting poses that has spread like a disease ever since he came on the scene. Have you seen Quade Cooper kick ?! somethings not right, I feel the need to book a session with my chiropractor after every Reds match now. Maybe he;s friendly with Adam Parore…..(thats one for the Kiwi fellas !).
Well, MS is a v.nice player but he’s still no DC. You dont see DC being hauled like MS was on EOYT’09. But he’s added alot more to his game this season and for that reason his upside is huge.
Sorry, but I dont fall in the Giteau-as-messiah brigade. A little genius, yes. But at FH he is far too individualistic, a touch of the King Carlos about him. Far better at 12.
17 Mar 2010, 16:04 pm
@Big Hit: 146
JW …a legend….my all time favorite 10….never ever shirked a tackle….what a star…..may he be 100% come WC time.
17 Mar 2010, 16:06 pm
@Heavens Game: @145
I apologise for calling you an ‘arrogant finger-pointing moron’ in my last entry. Youre not a finger-pointer at all.
17 Mar 2010, 16:07 pm
@Black Panther: 151
LOL
Yeah….agree about Gits….
DC….I hate to admit….scares the **** out of me….
as does Hayma….
What is he rumour that Hayman may go to Toulon instead of home??
He seems to be a mercenary of some note!
17 Mar 2010, 16:07 pm
@Big Hit: 150. Unrelated to that, I can’t understand the the dip in form of Armitage. Foden is a good replacement, though.
17 Mar 2010, 16:08 pm
@Black Panther: such nonsense, Wilkinson was our top line-breaker back in 2002/03, yes even more than the likes of Jason Robinson
@grant10: he will be, getting our pack right is more important however.
17 Mar 2010, 16:09 pm
@Heavens Game: Armitage was out injured for 3/4 months and never re-discovered his form. Foden has done well when he came on but France in Paris will be the acid test for him.
17 Mar 2010, 16:09 pm
@Black Panther: 153. Its alright then.
17 Mar 2010, 16:10 pm
@Big Hit: i bet you looking for a turbo reverse 3 …because them scrums are really not very important are they BH???
17 Mar 2010, 16:11 pm
BLOODY HELL….THINGS TO DO…
CHEERS
OUTTA HERE
17 Mar 2010, 16:14 pm
@Big Hit: 157. The backline looks like they have the same coach as the Sharks. No plan beyond 1st phase. There is no backrow link play either.
17 Mar 2010, 16:14 pm
@grant10: lol we have a decent scrum, it’s their work around the park that is the problem. Give me Beast/BDP/Smit/Matfield/Botha in our pack any day, they’re on a whole other world compared to Payne/Hartley/Deacon/Borthwick etc
17 Mar 2010, 16:15 pm
@Heavens Game: no decent ball is the biggest problem, everything is so slow. Best option is just to kick it or be smothered.
17 Mar 2010, 16:17 pm
@Big Hit: 162. Payne and Hartley are not bad and Borthwick has some good days, but he needs to stop the “We’re improving, everything is tra la la in the post-match interview”
17 Mar 2010, 16:19 pm
@grant10:
Hayman is King, long live the King.
Yep, looks like Toulon are waving the open cheque under his nose. The guy is a simple man of the land, he knows his time as a World-class pro sportsman is short so clearly holds that in priority to a RWC-glory. It tears my heart out, but cant really criticise him either. He certainly gave muchos pleasure when donning Black.
I hope its merely bargaining chips with the NZRU….
Not too distraught, the Owen Franks and Clint Newlands’ give me some cause for optimism however.
(*sob sob*……who am I kidding….).
@Big Hit:
the only ‘nonsense’ is your inability to see that the rugby World passed Wilko by many many moons ago. DC and Giteau and, lately, Morne too, make more linebreaks in 1-2 matches than Wilko has in the past 7 years. No pack, no Wilko.
17 Mar 2010, 16:21 pm
@Big Hit: 163. Yeah its like the forwards and backline are coached to death with separate drills and specialist coaches and ne’er the twain shall meet.
Hold on, but that is exactly what is happening.
A pity Woodward is not doing Andrew’s job to give Johnno a bit of guidance, and someone get rid of Brian Smith.
17 Mar 2010, 16:23 pm
@Black Panther: 165. Oh well, the AB’s have “bought the farm” on that one.
Hold on, didn’t they actually try and do that for Hayman.
17 Mar 2010, 16:24 pm
@Black Panther: no pack, no any flyhalf. People were calling for Giteau to be replaced by Barnes not long ago because his pack were struggling and there wasn’t much running out of Carter in Hamilton when his forwards were getting pounded.
Wilko makes breaks for Toulon all the time. Here’s one of his tries for example, youtube.com/watch?v=grcvKskeFJI
You have hit on a jey point however, we need to sort our pack out before the RWC.
17 Mar 2010, 16:25 pm
@Heavens Game: agree with that, there’s no cohesion, it might be time for SCW to return in Andrew’s position
17 Mar 2010, 16:27 pm
@Black Panther: #125 i remember when you came back from the game, in your first post you admitted that the words “turbo reverse” flashed across your mind while you watched wyatt crockett drill smit into doing some contortionist like exercises.
17 Mar 2010, 16:28 pm
@Big Hit: 169. It will never happen. The RFU love SCW like a bullet in the head.
17 Mar 2010, 16:31 pm
fdp signs with the japanese after wc 2011
17 Mar 2010, 16:40 pm
@Big Hit: @168
clearly we didnt watch the same game. In Hamilton, DCs comeback vs Boks, AB pack were minced in 1stH, and yet DC nearly stole the match singlehandedly in the 2ndH, giving the pack some momentum – changing the focus of the game entirely – and with 1 last kick was a fingertip away from a victory for the ABs.
Far more better examples the previous year when DC was the best player on the park in 1st 2 Tests with McCaw out and the pack completely shorn of experience after the post-RWC defections. He was stunning in beating the Boks in Weiington, but far more so in Dunedin where the Boks won despite the Blacks being down to the bare bones in the pack and almost played the Wallabies on his own in the defeat in Sydney.
Wilko only plays well behind a dominant pack and is badly exposed behind a poor one. Youve had 2 consecutive seasons to figure that one out, mores the pity that joke has finally come to an end.
But then I do seem to recall you basing an entire argument about DC being “soft vs France in Cardiff” despite him being injured off the entire 2ndH. And then turning around and excusing Wilko and others for years of poor form on the basis of injury (see Armitage above/elsewhere).
17 Mar 2010, 16:44 pm
@Black Panther: DC threw an intercept (and the game) to JDV trying to create behind a beaten pack, similarly he struggled at Twickenham when the English pack were on top in the first half. Carter is fortunate he always plays behind a pack which produces quick ball so he’s rarely exposed but it doesn’t surprise me much when he is and he gets that helpless puppy look on his face.
17 Mar 2010, 16:46 pm
@Heavens Game: true, but Francis Baron is moving on this summer so perhaps there will be an opening for Woodward. Hope so anyway.
@grant10: is this breaking news? doesn’t seem like the type to leave home.
17 Mar 2010, 16:48 pm
@Transformation:
must have been the jetlag, I was a mere few hours off the flight from Heathrow. What other answer could I have to thinking about G10 ?!
truly, that whole Bok Test frontrow were embarrassing that day, to a man. Bismarck doing his cocked-fist routine to a defenceless player on his back, you know the games up at that stage. I lost count of how many ‘bloodbins’ Smit took (aka ‘breathers’).
mores the pity, my father-in-law bought my daughter a Crusaders top and now she wont take the bloody thing off. Like a blunt poke in the eye to a Highlanders fan.
17 Mar 2010, 16:50 pm
@Big Hit: @174
ah, the English. You gotta love them. Noone else can quite turn a 13-pt home loss around and make it sound like a rousing victory. Lap.
17 Mar 2010, 17:30 pm
Wow. Grant, dude. You need serious help. I am serious!!
17 Mar 2010, 22:42 pm
The Kiwis have had a one man scrum shop in Mike Cron for years now. Its about time SARU woke up.
Not sure why you need so many involved – just one “mastah”.
What tyou do noeed is a scum workshop for refs. They need to learn the basics of scrum reffing.
In order of importance:
1) Penalise players who drop teh bind. When your arm is above your head, you cant wiggle your sjhoulders and drop teh srrum. This is non negotiable. Hands on floor is dropping teh bind. Immediate penalty.
2) Assuming no binds dropped, you can start looking for bent backs. Bent back the only way to drop the scrum if bound (although more chance of prop hurting himself).
3) Assuming 1 and 2 true, look for hips above shoulders. You have to push downwards to drop the scrum if you cant wiggle shoulders or bend back. This would be a last resort to drop teh scrum, as you will be limitedalready is limited as you cannot push down very hard.
4) Boring in – this should come last and is an obvious one to spot. If this is there, it overrides 1, 2 and 3 and is an immediate penalty.
Ref’s dont seem to understand that the first three requirements are in order. They will often penalise a player for a bent back when the opposing player has his hand on the ground and is ******** himn around with a low shoulder for example.
18 Mar 2010, 09:19 am
@WP_: Are you perhaps Roxy Smit?
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