SA vs Italy: Springboks expect tough time in scrum battle
The Springboks have highlighted that Italy's scrum was statistically better than Ireland's and Scotland's in the Six Nations.
Italy's scrum coach Andrea Moretti cheers on his players during their 76–3 win over Namibia in Windhoek on the weekend. Picture: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The Springboks say they will respect Italy's scrum pack, which was statistically better than Ireland's and Scotland's in the Six Nations.
Although the Italians finished fifth in this year's European competition with just one emphatic win against Wales, they ended with an impressive 75.68% scrum win percentage. At the same time, Ireland had 75% and Scotland had 70.37%.
Springbok forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels and assistant coach Daan Human reflected on this as they prepared for the first of two Test matches against Italy at Loftus on Saturday.
'They feed off their scrums'
Wessels, at 24 and only having three Test caps, is still somewhat wet behind the ears when it comes to international rugby. But he had his share of packing down against Italian sides Benetton and Zebre during the Bulls' United Rugby Championship campaign.
Benneton had a decent URC, just missing the playoffs and finishing 10th with nine wins (including victories against Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Ulster and the Sharks).
Zebre had a much-improved URC, winning five games (Edinburgh, Ulster and Munster included) to finish one up from the bottom, where they ended last season.
Wessels said the Bulls had done much analysis on the two teams which Italy's national squad were drawn from.
'They feed off their scrums. I think they get a lot of energy out of it, and it's a good base for them to play from,' Wessels said.
He said Benetton especially wanted to stay in the scrum for as long as possible.
'They scrum for penalties, they don't scrum to get away from it. They are up for the fight in scrum time.'
Springboks say Italy have a 'proper scrumming pack'
Looking at the national team, Italy are likewise much improved from a few years back.
They beat Namibia 73–6 at the weekend. Also, since the beginning of last year, they have beaten Wales (twice), Georgia, Japan, Tonga and Scotland, drawn to France and lost to Ireland by five points and England by three.
Human described Italy as a 'proper scrumming pack' and said the Springboks would respect them whoever they picked.
Wessels added, 'We respect them, Italy and Georgia have great scrums so we want to improve during the week and make sure we are as ready as possible when the weekend comes.'
Wessels added it would not be an easy game against Italy, and the Springboks were hoping to play in front of a sold-out crowd in Pretoria.
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