Tighthead Springbok Thomas du Toit expresses readiness for the first battle against the All Blacks on Saturday, which will be part of the greatest rivalry in rugby. The World Cup winner, Thomas du Toit, asserts that the Springboks are not letting controversial moments surrounding the scrum battle with New Zealand affect the team. Instead, he is focused on ensuring dominant attacking play during the teams' meeting in Cape Town on Saturday.
The All Blacks expressed concerns regarding South Africa's scrum tactics after the first match of the Greatest Rugby Rivalry, which took place in Johannesburg last week. However, du Toit believes that the Springboks' approach is much simpler than some assume. Before the second confrontation, the world champions are in a difficult situation and must win at the DHL stadium (match starts at 17:10) to keep hopes alive for winning the series. After a 33-16 victory, the All Blacks only need one more win to guarantee themselves at least a draw in the four-match rivalry.
After demonstrating attacking dominance and securing several penalties in the scrum, the team plans to continue this trend in expected wet conditions, and opponents' comments do not greatly worry them. For du Toit and the Springboks, the key point is clearly presenting dominance to the referee during the game. Du Toit stated: 'It is important to stay within the rules and try to move forward at both ends of the squad, from the loosehead and tighthead side.'
He continued that although there are many technical aspects that he will not elaborate on, the reality is that they need to show the referee a good picture. 'A good picture in your fixation and setup, moving forward in the scrum from both sides, adhering to the rules and not getting bogged down in technical details, but trying to demonstrate dominance. It is as obvious as I can make it, but I think that is any team's plan. Some teams just do it right, and others don't always on the weekend.'
Du Toit also acknowledged that scrum dominance can change rapidly from week to week, meaning the Springboks cannot rely on the same success as in Ellis Park. Therefore, they are ready for any scenario that may occur in the second match. He added: 'One week you might have dominance, and the next week you might not. So it largely depends on how the referee perceives the game and what he sees in front of him, which is completely fair.'
This will make Saturday's battle at the DHL stadium another intriguing episode in the Greatest Rugby Rivalry, especially after the All Blacks' concerns about how scrums were officiated in the first test match. Nevertheless, du Toit leaves these discussions to the referees and New Zealand, insisting that the Springboks will focus on what they can control. And on Saturday afternoon, they will be able to control their reaction to the first defeat.
'As for what New Zealand says to the referees, we just try to focus on what we do well and hope to be rewarded for it. I think what was most important for us was to postpone that match and learn lessons as quickly as possible. We have done incredible work over the past couple of years, putting every single week, every single game into its own box. And trying not to go back into that box and constantly look back at everything we did wrong, but just trying to fix as much as we can. I would say that by Monday afternoon, we kind of postponed that match, conducted a thorough review, and learned the lessons and the good points. We worked on the weak points of the game, and it was just as simple.'
