Ox helps Bok scrum plough ahead as Bomb Squad swings semi

The demise of the scrum as one of rugby's true battle grounds has been greatly exaggerated.

England were reacquainted with one of rugby's enduring truisms, if not inescapable realities, when their scrum capitulated just at a time they needed it most against the Springboks on Saturday night.

The dark arts, as Bok loose head Ox Nché calls it, were well illuminated under the harsh lights of the Stade de France as the Boks rallied late to a 16-15 win. The final quarter of a Rugby World Cup semifinal is not the time to wilt in the scrum but that is what England did in the face of concerted Bok pressure. Though the set piece early on helped shape the outcome of the 2019 final involving the same teams, this time the deviation in course arrived late.

In the 2019 World Cup final England conceded six scrum penalties and four years on their game, though near irreproachable in other areas, again fell apart around the set piece.

England finished the semifinal with a 43% success rate in the scrum, while the Boks ended on 87.5%.

Perhaps invoking the spirit of another great Springbok loose head, the modern day Ox did not disappoint.

Nché's introduction along with Vincent Koch gave the Boks grip just when their defence of the Webb Ellis Cup seemed destined to slip from their grasp.

A scrum penalty five metres from their own goal line after the hour mark helped give them belief. Others followed, culminating in the one that Handré Pollard banged over from near halfway to seal the Springboks' great escape.

“We prepared pretty well,” said Nché in an understated tone. “We adjusted well and we came up with a plan.

“The guys from the first half gave us good info,” explained the loose head who had Kyle Sinckler, an early casualty in the 2019 final, in all kinds of strife.

Until the substitutes made it on the Boks struggled to get a foothold in the game.

“From off the pitch it just looked like we weren't in sync,” Nché confirmed. “We weren't playing together and it didn't look like we were on one mission. The message at halftime was to stick together.”

However once Joe Marler and Dan Cole made way for Ellis Genge and Sinckler the tide turned.

“To say Marler and Cole are better scrummagers would be underestimating them [Genge and Sinckler]. You have to get to know the guys that are across from you,” Nché said.

“Me and Kyle have played against each other for quite a while. I got to know him. But I study Dan as much as I study Kyle.

“It's the dark arts. It is hard to explain. We had a plan for that and we knew what we wanted to achieve. They had a great scrum across the competition and great hits. Our focus was just surviving that and apply pressure.”

The Boks weren't putting all their eggs in one basket as they packed down for the scrum that ultimately won them the game.

“It was like our mentality before every scrum — 'Go full out boys'; get a penalty if you can'. If they do survive play out the back and get into our shape.”

While Nché was outstanding, the efforts of Koch and the tireless hooker Bongi Mbonambi cannot be underestimated.

Koch however, pointed to Nché. “He is an unbelievable player. An unbelievable scrummager, and around the park,” Koch said.

“He is definitely one of the strongest loosies I have scrummed against. I scrum against him every week. He is still very young and has an unbelievable future ahead of him.”

Koch explained the Boks didn't change anything to engineer the turnaround. It was purely reinforcement of that they knew.

“We were training the whole week on what we wanted to do and how we wanted to dominate. The boys in the first half set the platform for us. We just took the energy from them.

“We knew it might come down to a scrum penalty or set pieces. We get really excited for that. That is our job, that is our role in the team, to put in a huge performance.

“If we show good pictures the ref sees that. We've been quite dominant the whole tournament. The refs do pick it up. If we keep our scrums clean the refs will reward the dominance.

“At halftime Rassie [Erasmus, South Africa's rugby director of rugby] said we had to man up and show a better Springbok performance in the second half.”