Bok hookers gearing up for tough battle in northern conditions

Springbok hookers Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx and Joseph Dweba are preparing themselves for a massive hooking battle when they take on Wales, Scotland and England in their end of year tour to the UK.

The Northern Hemisphere teams are well known for having tough, well travelled front rowers and they will be bringing their A game when they take on the much vaunted Springbok pack over the next month.

“Myself, Malcolm and Joseph Dweba know we are going to face top quality hookers, especially in the north,” admitted Mbonambi.

“They enjoy the scrum, they enjoy getting into battles, which is something we as South African hookers enjoy as well. We enjoy the scrums, we enjoy the battles, hitting the rucks and putting in the tackles.

“So we look forward to a massive challenge, particularly in the lineouts and scrums. We know that they go hard in the air and compete very well, so that is something we will have to focus on as hookers and as a forward pack.

“We are definitely up for a massive forward battle, it is something we are preparing for and the (opposing) forwards are going to come hard at us.”

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The Boks know they are in for a strong challenge from the home nations with all three teams featuring in the top 10 on the world rugby rankings list.

The first match will be against the current lowest ranked side Wales at ninth on the rankings, followed by Scotland at seventh and they then face their toughest challenge against England who are ranked fourth in the world.

However, having home ground advantage and being able to play with fans in the stadium will also boost the host nations and they will be fired up to beat the current best in the world.

“We know we are playing three world class sides in the coming tests and we are training very hard to make sure that the results do go our way,” said Mbonambi.

“But we are playing in the north against top quality sides, so you can never predict the future, but us as Springboks do take pride in what we do and how we train, and I think as they say you are only as good as the last game that you played.

“So we played our last game four weeks ago. I think the result takes care of itself as long as we do our part and work hard and train hard.”

The Boks last game was a huge confidence boosting win over the second ranked All Blacks and they will look to take that momentum into the UK tour.