News

Smit to target the scrum

July 02 2008

As South Africa prepare to take on New Zealand in Saturday's opening Tri-Nations game captain John Smit is surprisingly singling out the scrum as his area of concern.

Despite New Zealand losing their scrum kingpin, Carl Hayman, to Newcastle last season their scrum has yet to be troubled against Ireland or New Zealand, a fact Smit is well aware of.

Smit was a keen observer of the scrum battle in last month's two New Zealand-England Tests and came away convinced his side face a giant battle this weekend.

"The All Blacks got the upper hand, despite England's strong scrum. That's a feather in their caps," Smit told the South African press.

"The All Blacks have dominated their opponents in the scrums in every match they've played this season."

With conditions set to be wet and windy the scrum could well become a focal point on Saturday, especially with the game being played under the ELVs.

New Zealand's premier scrummager Tony Woodcock makes a timely return from a toe injury and could cause problems for a South African pack shorn of retired prop Os du Randt and without Sharks strongman BJ Botha, who was surprisingly not picked.

Coach Peter de Villiers preferred rookie props Tendai Mtawarira and Brian Mujati, along with the more seasoned CJ van der Linde and Gurthro Steenkamp, none of whom have been dominant Test performers this season.

Smit said some of the problems were due to a lack of selection consistency in the front row but said there could be no excuse against the All Blacks.

"There are some Test matches that you know will be hard," Smit said.

"The All Blacks in New Zealand is one of those in which the physical aspect is non-negotiable.

"If you don't stand up in that respect, you're going to be on the back foot from the outset. We must not let ourselves down from a physical viewpoint."