Italy will be a proper test for the Boks, says scrum boss Human
Springbok scrum coach Daan Human is expecting a big challenge from the Italian forward pack in their match at Loftus on Saturday. Picture: OJ Koloti/Gallo Images
The Springboks are preparing for a big scrum challenge when they take on Italy, according to Bok scrum guru Daan Human, in their first Test of the incoming series at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The Boks opened their international season with a powerful 54-7 win over famed invitational side the Barbarians in Cape Town over the weekend, and now take on the Italians twice, before closing out the incoming tour with a match against Georgia.
Human said they were expecting a bigger challenge from Italy than what they faced against the BaaBaas, especially in the scrums, due to them being a more settled team that plays regularly.
'I think the big difference is the Barbarians aren't playing week in and week out. So you can't do much analysis on them and they also aren't together very long, so they don't have a chance to gel,' explained Human.
'This week we are playing a proper Test team in Italy, who play regularly, so we can do even more homework on them.
'The one thing about us as the Springboks is that we do not underestimate any side, and we know that Italy are very focused on their forward play, so it will be a proper Test match.'
Despite being ranked 10th on the world rugby rankings, Human pointed to Italy's solid early form in the Six Nations earlier this year, and their thumping 76-3 win over tier two nation Namibia over the past weekend, that they would pose a challenge to the Boks.
Competitive Six Nations
'They were very competitive in their first two Six Nations matches, and they have a 93% scrum completion rate, which says a lot about that area of their game,' said Human.
'There is definitely some stuff we can take out of that (Namibia) game, because about 80% of those players we will be facing this weekend. They also won four scrum penalties and got a penalty try.
'I also know the guys who played for Namibia, there is a lot of experience in the front row. Some of those guys have been to three World Cups, like Aranos Coetzee and Chucky (Louis van der Westhizen).
'So they (Namibia) are still a proper side and I will take anything I can use to prepare us for (what is to come from) Italy.'
Even though the Boks looked relatively untroubled during their impressive win over the BaaBaas, especially with their dominant forward performance, Human admitted there was plenty to take out of it, especially for the more inexperienced players.
'We learned a lot. As I explained in our review now to the players, especially for the new guys like Asenathi (Ntlabakanye), Marnus (van der Merwe), and even Jan-Hendrik (Wessels), who has only three caps, it was a big learning for them,' said Human.
'I had a lekker chat with their (Barbarians) scrum coach, who is the head coach at Racing Metro, and he said that both their tightheads were rated number one and two in the French league this season. So I think there is a lot we can gain from that experience going forward.'
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