England vs South Africa: Behind the Springboks’ scrum
Squat, tie, and immobilize.
No country embodies this process better than the world champions.
Over the past five years, South Africa’s golden generation of forwards has developed into arguably the most formidable and feared feud in rugby.
The now famous ‘Bomb Squad’ played a huge role in their development ahead of the 2019 World Cup, but their scrimmage goes much deeper and has been part of their culture for decades.
2007 World Cup winner BJ Botha told BBC Sport: “What South Africa has done, and what we have always believed, is that scrum is an area where you can strengthen yourself.”
“That’s where the law allows us to be physical and rough with players, and that will hopefully filter into other moments on the pitch. When we scramble, we scramble to dominate.”
Paarl Boys’ High School is one of the powerhouses of South African schoolboy rugby, attracting 25,000 spectators to rivals Paarl High School last year and helping to develop current Springbok props Thomas du Toit and Frans Malherbe.
Gurthro Steenkamp, another member of South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-winning team, also played schoolboy rugby there and saw the shift from set-pieces at an early age.
“South Africa put a lot of emphasis on prop development, especially the scrum,” added La Rochelle scrum coach Steenkamp.
“At my old school they started focusing on finer techniques at 14 and 15 years old, so they were ready for 15 and 16 years old when they could play properly in the scrum.”
Scrums were one of the few restricted activities before adult rugby, with teams only able to push a maximum of 1.5 meters in schools.
Botha served as forwards coach at Paarl Boys’ High School from 2021 to 2023 and now works with schools and teams on a consultative basis, providing professional guidance and analysis.
Props in the student system are not to wait until they are old enough to give their all at scrum, but to be trained beyond their years.
Botha added: “It’s a very delicate balance that’s regulated in a controlled way by the unions and referees, so we provide these specialist positions through the system.”
“South Africa is better at this because they want experts to come on board.”
The edge is not only the level of boys, but also the highest level now.
