Springboks easily adapting to new scrum ‘shot clock’, says coach Daan Human

The Springboks have been easily adapting to the various new laws imposed recently, particularly in the scrums, according to scrum coach Daan Human, with him admitting that they are comfortable and ready ahead of the opening Rugby Championship Test against Australia.

World Rugby recently made a number of law changes to various parts of the game, and the Boks have been looking to come to grips with them, assisted by their laws and discipline advisor, former top referee Jaco Peyper.

In his department, Human is more than happy with the way the team has adapted, which includes the new 30-second scrum rule, which says a team has to be ready for a scrum within 30 seconds of the mark being made. It is similar to the goal-kicker’s ‘shot clock’ for amount of time allowed to take a conversion kick.

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“It hasn’t been hard for us to adapt to it. Last week (in training) we got to do 16 live scrums in 20 minutes, so we are more or less where we want to be. Normally there are less scrums in a game, so it isn’t something new to us,” explained Human.

“We like to make our scrum sessions tougher than in actual games. That isn’t always the case, but we try to get it as close (to match intensity) as possible. So for us setting up the scrum in (under) 30 seconds is normal.

“It hasn’t been a (big) change for us. If you want to be strong in the scrum you have to train it well and in that space of time we always try to get as much done as possible, to get them ready for the scrum.”

Different beast

Looking ahead to the match, Human believes that the Wallabies will be a different beast from the one that has struggled over the past few years and were knocked out of the World Cup before the quarterfinals, especially under new coaching structure led by Joe Schmidt.

“They have a new coaching staff and have made a lot of changes, but they have done really well by beating Wales twice. They are four games unbeaten on the trot, which is great for them,” said Human.

“Like us, they have made a few changes. They have a new scrum coach, Mike Cron, who brings a lot of experience, coming in from New Zealand. They are doing very well at the moment.

“I can’t say that they are better prepared than they were in the past. I will never look down on the previous coach. But I can assure you that there is a lot of progress going on there and they are playing a good brand of rugby.”

The Boks are also fully aware of their poor record in Brisbane, where they have won just once while losing eight times in the past 20 years, and they will be eager to rectify that.

“Obviously we are aware of that record but most of the coaches and players only joined the team in the last few years, so for us it’s a matter of trying to prepare as well as we can for the clash and to ensure that we pitch up mentally and physically on Saturday,” said Human.