Former Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff believes a “proven stat” could determine the outcome of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Speaking on the For The Love of Rugby South Africa podcast, Kitshoff said Bok assistant coach Felix Jones often highlighted a statistic that consistently predicts the winner of Test matches.
“I love to quote Felix on this one because he always said if the tight five gets through the most work within a Test match, you end up winning that Test match, and it’s a proven stat,” Kitshoff said.
“If the battle rate of the props and locks is higher than the opposition, you tend to win that Test match.”
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Kitshoff believes the Springboks are well equipped to win that battle in the four-Test series against the All Blacks, praising the mobility and work ethic of the current crop of front-rowers.
“Thomas du Toit, Zachary Porthen, Boan Venter, they are all players who have massive work rates,” he said.
“Thomas gets through a ton of work. Wilco [Louw] is a solid scrummager, him and Carlü Sadie, but they also have the engine to work. Porthen makes big hits, and he’s quite mobile ball in hand.
“We saw Gerhard Steenekamp chase down wingers. So for me, he is such a big player.”
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While the set-piece will inevitably be a major battleground, Kitshoff expects the All Blacks’ pace and attacking style to place even greater emphasis on the work done away from the scrum.
“I think it is going to be a big part, a big component, of the Greatest Rivalry but there’s also the work rate because what the All Blacks bring is speed,” he said.
“They’ve got dynamic backline players and become quite dangerous quite quickly and you need your front row to be able to make tackles in the midfield, hit rucks, slow ball down and that’s going to be a big factor when it comes to these Test matches.”
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The retired loosehead backed the Bok hookers to make a major impact.
“Malcolm [Marx] was World Rugby Player of the Year last year, and Johan [Grobbelaar] is building into that role very nicely as Malcolm’s backup,” Kitshoff said.
“So also it’s two very skilful poachers, busy players, and they’re going to have a big task coming up in this Greatest Rivalry when it comes to the hooker position.”
Photo: Joe Allison/Getty Images
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Former Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff believes a “proven stat” could determine the outcome of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
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