Opinion: Plaudits go to unsung Springboks coach as Ireland’s B&I Lions were ‘battered and bullied’ in a brutal display
The Springboks battered, bullied and suffocated Ireland into submission in possibly the most brutal display of scrum dominance in tier one rugby history.
The fact that the final scoreline was just 24-13 is a testament to Ireland’s sheer-bloody-mindedness and refusal to be utterly embarrassed in front of their home fans.
Andy Farrell can be proud of his side’s desperate defence, but make no mistake, the set-piece was a blood bath of Dexter Morgan proportions and the Springboks scrum guru Daan Human deserves all the plaudits.
Since 2024, much has been made of Tony Brown’s influence on the Boks as Rassie Erasmus’ charges have displayed more endeavour and willingness with the ball in hand. The former All Blacks fly-half has certainly provided the back-to-back world champions with a real edge on attack and a completely new dimension to their game.
However, that wasn’t really needed on Saturday evening at the Aviva Stadium as South Africa reverted to bullying tactics to end their Dublin drought in what will be a demoralising defeat, particularly for the Irish front-row in a battle that can aptly be described as men against boys.
Scrummaging masterclass
The adage that the ‘forwards win matches and the backs determine by how much’ would have rang a lot truer had the big men in Green and Gold actually shared the ball with their teammates.
Instead, the backs were mostly relegated to cheering on the bullies who repeatedly dunked their victim’s head into the toilet, flushed and repeated.
It was akin to watching Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev’s fight earlier this year, but on this occasion, the viewing was far more pleasing to the eyes of the South Africans.
Chimaeav time and time again managed to pin Du Plessis down, lay on top of him, and the world watched on, waiting for the former to tap out, but he just stayed in the fight.
During the fight and at the Aviva Stadium, the official eventually had to step in and break things up, with Matthew Carley eventually ordering Andrew Porter to the sidelines a few moments earlier than his teammates, giving an extra 10-minute break to come up with some sort of plan to shift from reverse to first gear – it didn’t help.
In the end, the scrum stats provided were grimmer than the in-game footage. Sure, Ireland finished with a 100% success rate on their own ball with Jamison Gibson-Park doing what all decent scrum-halves do, feed the ball under the locks’ feet, and Caelan Doris got the ball away from the set-piece as quickly as he could. But it was on the Boks’ own feed that the demolition job was done.
All in all, there were 16 South African feeds to the scrum with Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit regularly turning down shots at goal and kicks to the corner in favour of another pack battle and on eight occasions referee Carley threw his arm into the air, awarding a penalty to the visitors.
To put that figure into perspective, in their three prior Quilter Nations Series matches, Ireland had conceded just four penalties in the scrums. Porter ended the match with a personal tally of five penalties conceded (including other infringements) while fellow loosehead prop Paddy McCarthy also visited the sin bin for his scrum indiscretions as Ireland were simply pulverised by the South Africans.
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Rebuilding of the pack
Since Erasmus’ return to South Africa in 2018, the Boks have had a powerhouse pack in their arsenal, with the 2019 World Cup success inspired by the two sets of world-class front-rows which consisted of Tendai Mtawarira, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch, the latter replacing the injured Trevor Nyakane during the tournament.
The retirement of Mtawarira resulted in the rise to power of Ox Nche with that group, and the inclusion of Thomas du Toit at times, largely remaining intact in the build-up to and during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Under the guidance of Human from 2020, the Springboks scrum went from strength to strength, so much so that during the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, they sought out more opportunities to scrum, controversially opting for the set-piece from marks inside their own 22 – a ploy that World Rugby has since outlawed.
A four-Test prop for the Boks, Human spent most of his playing career plying his trade with French club Toulouse, but it’s his work as a coach that has made him a cult figure among South African rugby fans, especially after he spoke so passionately about the set-piece in the Chasing The Sun 2 docuseries.
@supersportofficial Coach Daan and the Springbok scrum are built different 😤💪🇿🇦 #sportsontiktok #sarugby #springboks #bokke #tiktoksouthafrica #tiktoksa #AutumnNationsSeries #rugbyunion ♬ original sound – SuperSportTV
Erasmus trusts his knowledge of the set-piece so much that the prop selections are almost solely entrusted to the Bloemfontein native, and his track record is hard to argue against.
For about six years, when fit, Porter and Tadhg Furlong have been the go-to prop selections for Ireland, the latter for even longer. On Saturday, Porter earned his 79th cap and Furlong his 82nd. In stark contrast, Boan Venter earned his eighth and Thomas du Toit his 32nd while the replacement props Wilco Louw notched up his 28th and Gerhard Steenekamp his 15th and ultimately, it was the more inexperienced starting front-row that got the upper hand. It’s worth remembering that the Ireland trio were the starting front-row for the British and Irish Lions earlier this year, too.
Make no mistake, the scrum is far from just the front-row’s responsibility, particularly in Human’s eyes, as he demands a full eight-man effort, but the set-piece is technically demanding on the trio up front and experience in the dark arts plays a major factor.
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Chief destroyers
What made the Springboks’ scrummaging dominance all the more impressive on Saturday is the fact that Human has built such a powerful front-row despite being without many of his chief destroyers.
Kitshoff was forced into retirement due to a life-threatening injury in 2024, with the double World Cup winner entering the prime years of a prop’s career. His long-time propping partner Malherbe, regarded as one of the best scrummaging tightheads in the game, has not played a single minute of Test rugby this year. The same applies to swing prop Nyakane, who is in the twilight of his career but can absolutely still do a job.
This just scratches the surface of how depleted the Bok front-row was, as Vincent Koch’s form has also slipped, resulting in his omission from the squad while hooker-loosehead hybrid Jan-Hendrik Wessels was out through suspension. Bongi Mbonambi rejoined the squad, but his form also meant that he missed out, and his scrummaging prowess at hooker is a strength of his game.
Last but not least is the best loosehead prop in the world, Nche, who was nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year Award, ultimately won by his teammate and fellow front rower Malcolm Marx.
It’s a testament to the work that Human has put in that, despite the plethora of setbacks, the Springboks still had a world-class scrummaging front-row that decimated an all-British and Irish Lions front-row.
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Earlier this week, ex-Springboks boss Jacques Nienaber praised Erasmus for his ability to see potential in people that they may not even know themselves, and when it comes to the scrums, Human absolutely has that trait too.
Few, if any, would have predicted that Edinburgh’s Venter would be a Springbok in 2025, never mind that he would produce a masterclass against Ireland’s greatest tighthead prop, Furlong. The 28-year-old was barely on any of the fans and pundits’ radar, but crucially, Human saw his worth, and the former Cheetahs prop debuted before qualifying for Scotland. It hasn’t been plain sailing for Venter in his debut season of international rugby, but he repaid the coaching staff’s faith in him in Dublin.
Human also unearthed a gem in the form of Steenekamp, who debuted for the Boks before the 2023 Rugby World Cup and, following the retirement of Kitshoff, has become one of the best looseheads in the game.
Du Toit has been in and around the Bok squad for ages now, but this year has really grown into the responsibility of being the starting tighthead prop, and he produced possibly his greatest shift in the Green and Gold number three jersey as he obliterated Porter in the set-piece.
Finally, Louw has been one of the most dominant club scrummagers in the game in recent seasons, certainly in the URC, but so often props are unable to translate that dominance to the international game. He has had no such trouble since his return to the Bok fold last year.
What made the scrummaging performance against Ireland all the more impressive is that it came off the back of an underwhelming shift against Italy. Danillo Fischetti did a number on rookie tighthead Zachery Porthen and then Louw deployed similar tactics to that Porter is renowned for. It’s clear that Human did his homework and gave his tigtheads answers as to how to combat it and Du Toit and Louw delivered emphatically.
It was a pure masterstroke from Erasmus to throw on his replacement front-rowers just before half time, leading to Porter’s yellow card, but the groundwork was laid by Human in the week.
While Brown has brought flash, flair and the finishing touches to the Springboks’ attack, the foundation has been firmly laid by the forward coaches in Deon Davids and Human as South Africa bossed the set-pieces and ultimately, the match.
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