Springbok tighthead Thomas du Toit is looking forward to his first battle with the All Blacks on Saturday in the second match of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry
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World Cup winner Thomas du Toit insists the Springboks are not getting caught up in the controversy around the scrum battle with New Zealand, with the tighthead prop instead focused on producing another dominant performance up front when the two sides meet in Cape Town on Saturday.
The All Blacks have raised concerns around South Africa’s scrum tactics following last weekend’s opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in Johannesburg, but Du Toit believes the Springboks’ approach is far simpler than some might suggest.
The world champions are with their backs against the wall ahead of the second encounter and must win at DHL Stadium (5.10pm kick-off) to keep their hopes of sealing the series alive. Following a 33-16 victory, the All Blacks only require one more victory to ensure that they can at least draw the four-Test rivalry.
After the Boks’ dominance up front, winning several scrum penalties, they will look to continue that in expected wet conditions, and they won’t be too fazed about the comments from their opponents. For Du Toit and the Springboks, it is about giving the referee a clear picture of dominance when they go out on the field.
“The important thing is staying within the rules and trying to scrum forward on both sides of the pack, the loosehead and tighthead sides,” Du Toit said.
“Yes, there are a lot of technical things that I won’t bore you with, but the reality is that you need to show the referee a good picture. A good picture in your bind and your set-up, scrumming forward on both sides, staying within the rules and not getting caught up in the technical bits, but trying to show dominance.
“That’s as obvious as I can make it, but I think that’s probably every team’s plan. Some teams just get it right, and others don’t necessarily on the weekend.”
Du Toit also acknowledged that scrum dominance can change quickly from one week to the next, meaning the Springboks cannot simply assume they will enjoy the same success they did at Ellis Park.
That is why they are braced for every scenario that can happen in the second match.
“One week you can have dominance, and the next week you won’t. So it’s very much about what the referee perceives about the game and what he sees in front of him, which is completely fair,” he added.
That will make Saturday’s battle at DHL Stadium another intriguing subplot to Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, particularly after the All Blacks’ concerns about how the scrums were officiated in the opening Test.
Du Toit, however, is leaving that discussion to the officials and New Zealand, insisting the Springboks will concentrate on what they can control. And on Saturday afternoon, they can control their response to the opening defeat.
“As far as what New Zealand are speaking to the referees about, we just try to focus on what we do well and hopefully get rewarded for it. I think the important thing for us was to park that game and take the learning as quickly as we can. We’ve done an incredible job over the last couple of years in putting every individual week, every individual game in its own box.
“And trying to not go back to that box and looking behind us the entire time at what we did wrong, and just trying to rectify as much as we can. I would say by Monday afternoon we kind of parked that game and had a proper review and took the learnings and good stuff on board. We worked on the bad things of the game and it was as easy as that.”
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