Mentioning the unmentionable

The above headline has not been gleaned from the Peter de Villiers Book of Odd Sayings. I made it up myself as a lead-in to what I’m about to say.

There is something wrong with the Springbok scrum and I think the team and their coaches are either ducking the issue or are in denial about it.

For some weeks now I have been scanning match reports and tour despatches to see if others agree with my assessment that the scrum, traditionally a mainstay of Springbok rugby, has become something of an Achilles heel.

However the reporters close to the team have stayed studiously away from having a go, or even questioning, whether the scrum had become an unsettled piece in the Bok make-up.

In some instances though the creaking formation has been so noticeable that it could not be ignored but we were dutifully fed the party line – i.e. the problems in Perth were caused by baffling rulings from referee Bryce Lawrence.

This is not unusual on tours. Reporters are under pressure from their employers to provide informed copy and the odd personality piece and for that they have to have access of the team - which means steering clear of criticism or being frozen out.

It is an age-old tightrope walked by sports writers; maintaining a balance between truthful reporting and having unfettered access to the team. And the players and coaches, no matter who they are, don’t like being criticised and all, in spite of maintaining that that they don’t read or take credence of what is said in the media, have a remarkable facility to know exactly what was said.

Fortunately I am not on tour and not in need of maintaining cordial relations so I’ll mention the unmentionable – there is something wrong with the Springbok scrum that is holding the team back from performing at an optimum level and which played a big part in defeats against the British Lions and the Wallabies and which has given the All Blacks a potentially fatal weakness to target.

After eight test matches this season (3 Lions, 3 Wallabies 2 All Blacks) is it time to question whether the experiment of playing John Smit at tighthead is working or is the problem perhaps with Tendai Mtawarira on the loosehead side?

I was never comfortable with the decision to switch Smit in the interests of bringing in Bismarck du Plessis. Two arguments were put forward then – that the team simply could not do without the younger Du Plessis’ power and also that including him would prevent him from going overseas – but I agreed with neither.

I felt that as the captain (a hugely successful one) and hooker (arguably the best in his position in the 2007 World Cup) Smit should have first right to the No2 jersey with Du Plessis having to earn his right of passage as up-and-coming apprentices have done for decades until given an opportunity by attrition or the march of time. If that entailed him seeking pastures new then so be it because South Africa is fortunate to possess plenty of other first-class hookers.

Smit has made a sterling effort to fit into his new role but, as evidenced by his often scuffed and bruised features, has not looked comfortable.

However one also has to question whether Mtawarira has not become a victim of his hyperbolic nickname? He is extremely young for a prop, his transition from loose forward to the frontrow is still quite recent, he is not that heavy and it has often been my impression that the Springbok problems have occurred on the left rather than the right of the scrum.

The other key factor which the coaches, for reasons unknown to those of us on the outskirts, have persevered with has been removing Bakkies Botha from the action round about the 60-minute mark – to the immediate detriment of the team’s scrummaging prowess.

It is a strange state of affairs given that this stellar year started with the Boks supreme in the scrum as they smashed the Lions in the first Test in Durban – the Beast giving the highly respected Phil Vickery a working over seldom seen a test match.

The referee on that day at the Absa Stadium was none other than Bryce Lawrence; the official fingered when the Boks ran into trouble in Perth.

The Lions, forced to continue using Vickery because of injury to the formidable Scot Euan Murray but with Andrew Sheridan in the mix, fought back in the next test at Loftus and gained a clear ascendancy in the third and final encounter at Coca-Cola Park when the Boks made wholesale changes, including Chiliboy Ralepelle at hooker.

The explosive power of the season’s first test has not been seen since and the Boks’ scrummaging woes were key to the Wallabies being able to get, and keep, them under pressure as they forged to a clear victory in Brisbane.

It is a mystery as to what has gone wrong but that there are problems is not in doubt; as is the fact that Messrs Woodcock, Hore and Franks will be chipping away at the same fault line in Hamilton on Saturday.