Whenever you speak to anyone involved with the Springbok Women team about their dominant scrum, they suddenly become excited – and it is no different with assistant coach Franzel September.
The former Boland loose forward and head coach is responsible for the line-outs at the Bok Women, but his face lit up when asked by Independent Newspapers yesterday about their set-piece dominance in the past weekend’s 33-26 defeat to Australia at Athlone Stadium.
The South Africans didn’t receive their fair share of scrum penalties from Zimbabwean referee Precious Pazani in the WXV 2 encounter against the Wallaroos, but it is something that the hosts are addressing ahead of Saturday’s final clash against Italy at Athlone Stadium (2pm start).
The starting front-row of Sanelisiwe Charlie, Roseline Botes and Babalwa Latsha, as well as replacements Yonela Ngxingolo, Micke Gunter and Azisa Mkiva continually shoved their opponents back, but didn’t always get the necessary reward.
The Boks, though, are hoping to continue providing front-foot ball for the backline against the Italians, who are also higher-ranked (ninth) than South Africa (12th) – like they did in the 31-24 opening-round win over Japan.
“We had one or two that didn’t go our way. But still, the forwards are our foundation – it’s our DNA, and we don’t want to go away from that, even though we always have a holistic approach. The forwards have their work to do, and we call them the ‘Machines’,” September said with a smile.
“It’s a case of what we can control, we will control. This week, we looked deeply at how we can approach it and what to look out for.
“You can’t be too outspoken about these things, but for us, it is about doing what we can do, and what the rule says – what we can and can’t do.”
But while the Boks nearly pulled off an incredible comeback in the last quarter after fighting back from 33-12 down, they know that they need to finish better on attack and take full advantage of the platform provided by the pack.
They understand that attacking space out wide is crucial against Italy instead of the ‘tunnel vision’ moments experienced against Australia, where just one or two more passes out wide would’ve resulted in tries.
The week is but a day old, but the #BokWomen are already set on weekend's goals...@WXVRugby @FNBSA #MakeItCount pic.twitter.com/0vuSx3lYPF
In that regard, shoring up the defence and securing the breakdowns will be vital, as that was one area where the Wallaroos ruled – including the last-gasp penalty earned by Ashley Marsters a metre from her own tryline.
“We saw that it’s those concentration lapses where we lost it a bit, in terms of soft tries that we gave away. We said to ourselves that you must stay in the match for 80 minutes.
“You can’t play rugby in stages or moments ... You must know that you have to stay in the fight for 80 minutes. That’s one of the big work-ons for us,” September said.
“For us, our reaction time must be better (at the breakdowns). It’s something we’ve worked hard on this week, and over the last few weeks. One thing you note when playing higher-ranked teams is that a second makes a difference and you must win that battle.
“We must earn those split-second wins, and we must be faster and lower, get there and do the job. If the ball is out of the scrum, you must go. If your opponent beat you there...
“We see that Italy stay in the game, as we saw with the Australians. You can’t play in stages – you can be in front or behind, but they stay there and don’t give you an inch. It’s also a game that they can’t afford to lose.
“We trust the processes that we are busy with. Like we’ve said before, it’s about the World Cup (next year), and we must play against higher-ranked teams to get that exposure and experience.
“So, we trust these processes and don’t want to force or chase things.”