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, 10:47 am
Steady Eddie Dragons!
17 Mar 2010, 10:48 am
Im shocked that Grant10 wasnt invited!
17 Mar 2010, 10:55 am
@Taahirah:
Brilliant!!!
17 Mar 2010, 10:56 am
The Great Hard Man Eddie Andrews!!! bwahahahahaha
17 Mar 2010, 11:16 am
Eddie Andrews oh my word..
17 Mar 2010, 11:21 am
@Taahirah: lmao
Grant10 wasnt invited
sorry Grant but htis made my day
i’m still cracking
LTHTT
17 Mar 2010, 11:21 am
well done mr swart! about time somebody said lets do something about it, cos the players often dont seem to know what the hell the ref is blowing.
our scrum factory come gametime is more like a scrum
lottery.@wpw: K@K funny …i agree
17 Mar 2010, 11:25 am
Pieter De villiers (French Prop) should also have been part of this team.
17 Mar 2010, 11:28 am
@Taahirah: Haha! Brilliant!
Seems a good initiative, although steady Eddie is a concern. Rather get old Garvey involved. Next we’ll be calling up Schalk Britz to the panel. I don’t agree with 1 comment though “most of the times they get the calls right!” If this is true, its because 51% of the time they get it right and 49% of the calls are wrong. Its a lottery.
17 Mar 2010, 11:33 am
Thabo Mbeki hasn’t got much on his plate let’s get him in the mix…
17 Mar 2010, 11:37 am
@Sonito:
I saw him in Cape Town last year (Gardens Centre Mall)
He has legs like tree trunks!!!
17 Mar 2010, 11:39 am
@gunther:
Aai tog. Kyk waar val djy uit!!!
17 Mar 2010, 11:39 am
@gunther: thabo was ascrumhalf @ sussex, he has no experience to impart on the front-row
17 Mar 2010, 11:44 am
@wpw: Do you mean that dogs constantly pee against him?
17 Mar 2010, 11:47 am
Transie
Come now if old fly halves know everything there is to know about front row play then surely old scrum halves have something to offer..
wpw
are you soli philander?
17 Mar 2010, 11:48 am
@katman:
hahahaha
17 Mar 2010, 11:49 am
@gunther:
Nope.
Soli is on Cape Talk as we speak!!
17 Mar 2010, 11:54 am
@gunther: 5
He did bench press more than Os, according to JW.
17 Mar 2010, 12:04 pm
Ever heard Balie Swart talk? When he speaks Afrikaans he ends every sentence with né – “Hulle moet skrum né. Hy druk so né, en hy moet weer so maak né.”
We won’t be having any scrum problems if players were picked in their right positions. Fat John and Heinke vd Merwe are not tightheads and should not be played in that position.
17 Mar 2010, 12:08 pm
good idea ! realy is a good idea
17 Mar 2010, 12:09 pm
@Taahirah: hahaha !!!
17 Mar 2010, 12:17 pm
Nama
Hell if he bench pressed more than os let’s get him involved..
17 Mar 2010, 12:20 pm
@gunther:
Say what you want about Eddie but he is doing great things among the disadvantaged in Cape Town.
17 Mar 2010, 12:20 pm
Just pick the Stormers scrum plus Victor and the Boks will be just fine!!!
17 Mar 2010, 12:25 pm
Joshua Foundation
“Impacting youth empowering them to become agents of change”
Using the platform we as professional sportsman have to impact lives for good by not giving handouts but hand ups!
17 Mar 2010, 12:28 pm
wpw
That’s great..
and?
17 Mar 2010, 12:30 pm
@wpw: 25. “not giving handouts but hand ups” – expect some handouts to the consultants and advisers of the Joshua Foundation – it is the way of NGOs and Charities.
17 Mar 2010, 12:35 pm
Lesson one in this sessions….
1. Don’t play players out of position….
Lesson two….
2. When no 1 apllied, work on technique in spesialized positions…by specialists…
17 Mar 2010, 12:39 pm
Heavens Game
you cynic..are you insinuating that he drives around in a nice big company bakkie?
17 Mar 2010, 12:47 pm
@Blouste: we dropped some places didnt we ?
17 Mar 2010, 12:48 pm
@gunther: 29. Cynic? A cynic would say he drives around in a Mercede Benz as in the proverbial waBenzi.
17 Mar 2010, 12:48 pm
@gunther:
I admire him for ‘giving back’ to the community and for trying to make a difference.
Not many former players do!!
17 Mar 2010, 12:49 pm
So let’s see. Did they involve:
Cobus Visagie? No.
Marius Hurter? Nope.
Willie Meyer? No.
Kees Lensing? Nah.
Insert name of random prop? No.
But did they put Eddie “The Contortionist” Andrews on the payroll? Oh yes.
Well, there goes the credibility of this initiative.
17 Mar 2010, 12:55 pm
@poppa69:
Hell yes !!!
GSP the big perpetrator !!!
Now like the Lions, in a rebuilding phase
17 Mar 2010, 12:58 pm
@poppa69:
The S14 log still looks nice though…
17 Mar 2010, 13:05 pm
eddie andrews was a more than capable loosehead – form loosie in the early years of JW’s reign both in workrate and in scrummaging. his fall from grace only occurred when he was shifted to tighthead in order to become specialist bench cover (since os had made the loosie position his own).
he’s hardly the first loosie (or hooker) to fail at becoming a tighthead midway through career, and he’ll unlikely be the last (heinke).
17 Mar 2010, 13:10 pm
33 Tac-
Cobus, is not going to give up his gig in the UK as Brendan Venters right hand man at Saracens..
Can they please take Graham Rowntree as part of the team…
17 Mar 2010, 13:15 pm
@Tacitus: Maybe Eddie will make up a nice balance. “what not to do” could be his message.
Look at Vlok Cilliers. He was not by any stretch of the imagination a great kicker in his playing days but he sure as hell has worked wonders with Morne Steyn and the other youngsters at the Bulls.
17 Mar 2010, 13:19 pm
Eddie Andrews – some may say he is might be a “quota” scrum doctor. No wings there, so an AA appointment to “right the wrongs of the past”?
17 Mar 2010, 13:21 pm
@Beertjie:
Hmmm. So you’re saying that due to the Vlok Cilliers example, we should always look for the LEAST suitable guy to train guys in any specific discipline?
As in, get Naas Botha to teach tackling, Ruan Pienaar to teach kicking at goal, McNeil Hendriks to do the wings’ speed training, Keegan Daniel to teach the guys about how to build muscle mass and Sireli Naquelivuki to teach them about focus and a high work rate?
17 Mar 2010, 13:23 pm
@Tacitus:33
He may be able to give good advice on “how NOT to be a contortionist when you’re a prop” to the youngsters then.
Come on, Eddie used to hold his own against most of his opponents, much like all the props we used since readmission. Never in the past 20 years did we have a front row who could demolish the opposition front row, like England did with the Aussies a few years ago.
Not even when Os and Tommy were there.
17 Mar 2010, 13:26 pm
@nama1: 41. Don’t forget England (2 men down) demolishing the All Blacks in NZ. It won’t happen again for many years but they held off a NZ attempted pushover with a 6 or 7 man scrum.
17 Mar 2010, 13:35 pm
@Heavens Game:
Exactly.
Now when did we ever have a scrum who could put up that kind of performances. Certainly not in the past 20 years.
People singling out Eddie as a weak scrummer, always gets on my nerve. CJ Botha is worse than him, I reckon.
17 Mar 2010, 13:35 pm
All things are relative. The Irish scrumming situation make all things look rosy in South Africa. We have the worst scrum in the world’s top 10 and by a distance…..
I watch BJ Botha destroying loose-heads week in week out and wonder why on earth we can’t produce anything similiar. Quite simply when players are chasing the shekels you haven’t got much hope. But at least you can produce these players as opposed to Ireland who are sending a man out on a zimmerframe every week……
Anyway, happy Patricks day all…….
17 Mar 2010, 13:40 pm
@Tacitus: LOL
Percy holds every type of points and kicking record for the Boks. I don’t think he was a success as kicking coach (Ruaan Pienaar). The point is, coaching/teaching is not equal to being good at it yourself. However, you can be **** at both – like Flekkie
17 Mar 2010, 13:45 pm
PdV said on eNews just now that John Smit will rotate between
2 & 3 for the Boks.
17 Mar 2010, 13:46 pm
you guys crack me up!
First, Eddie was useless in the bok scrum, he was there during the kwota years and for that reason only. It seems history has repeated itself.
Secondly, It’s no use teaching hookers how to be tightheads. Even if you have the best teachers in the world. It’s like teaching Tacticus how to be a supermodel
17 Mar 2010, 13:46 pm
@nama1:
I agree bru.
He had a very good 2004 when the Stormers made the S12 semis and the Boks won the Tri Nations!!
17 Mar 2010, 13:47 pm
@nama1:
Who is CJ Botha??
You mean CJ VD Linde??
17 Mar 2010, 13:49 pm
Oops….CJ vd Linde
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