Scrumming, in recent years, has been put front and centre in the Springbok camp.
It has been on everyone's lips, popularised perhaps by the emergence of Springbok scrum coach Daan Human's approach to one of rugby's most primal pursuits.
He may as well start his own reality TV show, Boer Soek ’n Stut (farmer looking for a prop), or Boer Soek ’n Bok, as he turns the soil on his farm to broaden the prop ranks, but more urgently, forge ones of Rugby World Cup-winning calibre like the injured Frans Malherbe and the retired Steven Kitshoff.
Human's off-the-grid work on his farm in Verkeerde Vlei in the Free State with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Asenathi Ntlabakanye has served to lengthen his legend.
The straight-talking Human is not one you'd immediately associate with platitudes, but even he served up a few on Monday as he addressed the media in Johannesburg ahead of Saturday's first Test against Italy at Loftus Versfeld.
Rugby, after all, is a game built on respect and time-honoured values, and underestimating opponents draws a frown.
“We will be facing a proper Test team on Saturday,” and “they have a 93% scrum completion rate, which says a lot about that area of their game,” Human tried to talk up the Azzurri.
That may be true but his team's prowess in the scrum is etched in Springbok folklore. Bok fans will have reason to growl should Italy put the march on the Bok scrum in Pretoria.
You don't have to go too far to find evidence of the Springboks’ utter domination in that facet against the Azzurri.
In their Rugby World 2019 pool match, the Springboks pulverised Italy by upping their physicality and ended up bullying the team in blue.
It was in the scrums in particular where the Boks flexed their muscle, reducing Italy's scrum to Roman ruin.
The eventual champions romped home 49-3, with then Italy coach Conor O'Shea presciently observing the Boks would be hard to stop in that tournament.
The Italy scrum took a beating in the Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa.
Just ask the most experienced player on tour in South Africa, tighthead prop Simone Ferrari.
The Boks, who were desperate to avoid first-round elimination, then took a heavy physical toll on the Italians, with tightheads Ferrari and Marco Riccione succumbing to injury, before matters got worse when loosehead prop Andrea Lovotti was red-carded, which further underlined the need for uncontested scrums.
That match imbued the Springboks with much-needed confidence after their opening weekend defeat to New Zealand.
The enduring members of the pack that vanquished Italy, flanks Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit, hookers Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx, locks Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman and Lood de Jager, as well as utility forward Franco Mostert, should have that experience on instant recall.
They won't be on a similar tightrope as they were in Shizuoka six years ago but another commanding performance in the scrums at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday will help layer what the Boks are trying to achieve, not just later this year but in the long run.
Two away clashes against the All Blacks in New Zealand in the Rugby Championship and two more on the road against France in Paris and Ireland in Dublin will test their credentials as the top team in the world.
There are also the lights of Rugby World Cup 2027 flickering in the distance.
The Boks have recognised potential shortfalls in their game but through Human's shoulder-to-the-wheel approach at least their scrum is in good standing.
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