Hanyani Shimange says the All Blacks are trying to separate Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nché from hooker Malcolm Marx at scrum time.
The scrum has become the biggest talking point of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with a war of words developing between All Blacks coach Dave Rennie and his Bok counterpart Rassie Erasmus.
After the Boks’ 33-26 victory in the second Test at Cape Town Stadium, Rennie again raised concerns about the Boks “walking around” at scrum time, having already taken the issue to World Rugby.
That drew a furious response from Erasmus – “We’re not f**king walking around! – while Bok scrum coach Daan Human was similarly emphatic this week, saying he had never coached his pack to walk around a scrum.
DAAN: Boks don’t want to walk around scrum
Speaking on the Boks Unpacked X The Verdict podcast, former Bok hooker Shimange backed Erasmus and Human.
“If there’s anything that’s going to get that Springbok scrum firing this weekend, it’s [Rennie’s] comment,” he said. “He’s basically accusing them of cheating, almost.”
Shimange believes the apparent lateral movement is part of a “head battle” between the opposing props, with All Blacks tighthead Tyrel Lomax attempting to isolate Nché from the rest of the Bok front row.
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“I think what New Zealand are trying to do is almost separate Ox from the hooker. So they shift to the right slightly and try and negate the hit.
“You move across to the right-hand side. So I’m tighthead, Ox is here on my outside. If I can get him out a bit, separate him from the hooker, you almost get Ox scrumming on his own, and then you power towards that side.
“So that’s why Ox, with the head battle, is trying to move him back in: ‘Stop trying to pull me across. I’m going to move there.’
“It doesn’t mean you’re scrumming [around]. It’s just the head battle that happens. But then you hit that scrum and try to get the tighthead side going forward.
“We’ve got a good hit. We want to smash and hit back. So you want that hit right there on the mark.”
ALSO: Barney calls out Rennie’s scrum tactics
Australian referee Angus Gardner regularly allowed play to continue when the All Blacks collapsed the scrum in Cape Town, denying the Boks the opportunity to fully capitalise on an area in which they had the upper hand.
Shimange expects Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, who takes charge of Saturday’s third Test at FNB Stadium, to be more decisive.
“Nika Amashukeli is pretty good with the scrums. One thing about him, if it collapses, he’ll make a call. He’s not scared of making a call.”
The post Shimmy: All Blacks targeting Ox in head battle appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Hanyani Shimange says the All Blacks are trying to separate Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nché from hooker Malcolm Marx at scrum time.
The post Shimmy: All Blacks targeting Ox in head battle appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
