Kitshoff: ‘Boks, Wales to have full go at each other in scrums’

Despite a number of injuries setting Wales back in the scrum department, Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff is still expecting a strong scrum battle during the final Test decider at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

Wales lost replacement tighthead prop Tomas Francis to concussion during the first Test, while first choice tighthead Dillon Lewis left the field during the second half of the second Test with his arm in a sling due to a suspected elbow injury.

This saw Sam Wainwright make his Test debut in the game and put in an assured performance during the closing stages.

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“Wales have got a good set piece and a good scrum and you can see in the second half (last weekend) at certain scrums they did gain a bit of dominance,” explained Kitshoff.

“So I still think it is going to be a tough battle when it comes to the set piece. Hopefully the surface holds up nicely and both teams can have a full go at each other. So even with the injuries I still think they have a quality pack.”

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Wales defence coach Gethin Jenkins on Tuesday however intimated that Lewis was recovering well and he was duly selected in the starting team Thursday for Saturday’s Test.

Another challenge for the teams in the scrum on Saturday will be the Cape Town Stadium’s turf, which has been shown to tear up quite easily during the United Rugby Championship (URC) this season, which could add to both sides’ woes.

“We haven’t played a game there in three or four weeks, so I am not 100% sure what the surface looks like at the moment. With the URC it was a bit slippery and certain areas of the field weren’t in great shape,” explained Kitshoff.

“But we were promised by the groundskeepers that they were going to fix up the surface and hopefully it holds up very nicely this weekend.”