Springboks hone in on attacking mauls this season
· Citizen
The Springboks believe that attacking mauls is one area they can improve this Test season after getting the ball rolling slowly last year.
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World Rugby Player of the Year Malcolm Marx took responsibility for poor lineouts against New Zealand and Australia early in the Rugby Championship, losing a few lineouts and once performing a balked throw during the Springboks’ defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
But once South Africa started winning their own lineouts, they used the maul to good effect.
Springboks want to start right
Assistant coach Deon Davids said the Springboks’ physical dominance at set-piece has long been an area of strength, and they need to be on the money from the start this time.
“We were slow on that last season but ended up at about 87/88% for maul success,” he said.
“We won the most penalties from mauls, meaning teams want to do anything to stop them.”
However, the Springboks were fourth in the world in terms of the number of mauls created, showing that they are also trying to be innovative come lineout time.
Injuries and workload ahead of World Cup
Davids said injuries to locks were a sore point every year, with Salmaan Moerat (toe ligament tear) and Lood de Jager (hip surgery) currently in the sick bay.
However, improving the available locks’ versatility by using them interchangeably at four and five, created more options. And there are a handful of flankers such as Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ben-Jason Dixon who could fill in.
“It’s good to know that although we sit with injury problems, we have that balance between four and five guys who can do the job. We will monitor it very closely to make sure we are ready to go.”
Joining Davids at a press conference in Cape Town, Springbok conditioning coach Andy Edwards said they were carefully managing player workloads in a demanding calendar, with national and franchise seasons often out of sync, ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Springbok conditioning coach Andy Edwards. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images“The global rugby season would solve that instantly… it would enforce a globalised rest period for the guys,” Edwards said.
However, he said in the meantime the Springboks were liasing with players and clubs to ensure the rest-period system worked as best it could.
Edwards said the Springboks rotating their vast player base, and incorporating so many players at alignment camps (49 were invited to the in-person camp this week), has balanced the workload.