Sean Fitzpatrick was left wondering why South Africa opted for uncontested scrums
Saturday 25 July 2015 19:41, UK
New Zealand beat South Africa 27-20 in the Rugby Championship on Saturday to lay down a big marker for their World Cup defence in two months' time.
It was a pulsating encounter between the two best teams in the world that could have gone either way however former All Blacks skipper Sean Fitzpatrick says the turning point came when the game went to uncontested scrums.
The Springboks had dominated the scrum and when All Black lock Sam Whitelock was yellow carded in the 60th minute it looked like South Africa would really capitalise on their forward power.
However a head injury to tighthead prop Vincent Koch brought on loosehead prop Trevor Nyakane and, despite Nyakane having played tighthead before, the decision was to go with uncontested scrums. A decision that did not go down well with former All Blacks hooker Sean Fitzpatrick.
"I don’t know why for the life of me they went for uncontested scrums," said Fitzpatrick on Sky Sports.
"There will be many a Springbok forward turning in their graves tonight. The loosehead prop who came on - Trevor Nyakane, who had to play tighthead - has made five or six starts this year in Super Rugby as a tighthead. So why did they they decide to go for uncontested scrums when they had to man up?
There will be many a Springbok forward turning in their graves tonight.
"It was the turning point and I think they lacked some leadership. It know was Schalk’s [Burger] first game as captain but I felt that the leadership just lacked a bit and that what I liked about the All Blacks – the leadership of players like Kieran Read and McCaw who I thought was outstanding once again. Conrad Smith in the backs was excellent as well."
Wonderful spectacle
Fitzpatrick also believes that both coaches would have got a lot out of the game as they prepare for the World Cup in September.
"It was a wonderful spectacle to watch and a credit to both teams for challenging each other," added Fitzpatrick.
"I think that both camps and both coaches would have got a huge amount out of that game in terms of who is ready to go to the World Cup and who is not quite there.
"I was excited in terms of the All Blacks of how the weathered the storm. The Springboks threw everything at them but they weathered that and came out on top.
"I thought Lima Sopoaga was outstanding at No 10 and for me the player of the day was Charles Piutau on the wing who I thought was quite outstanding. He was superb and put the Boks under huge pressure."
