Springboks scrum guru Daan Human delivers straight verdict after All Blacks' 'walking around' claims

Scrum coach Daan Human staunchly defended South Africa's scrum against the criticism levied by the All Blacks. The controversy erupted prior to the second Test in Cape Town, with All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie lodging formal complaints to World Rugby. Rennie alleged that South Africa was unlawfully walking around the mark to warrant scrum penalties.

In response, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus vehemently denied these allegations, branding them as a contrived narrative aimed at influencing match officials ahead of the impending third Test at FNB Stadium in Soweto. At a press conference in Johannesburg, Human adopted a measured approach to the escalating tension, noting the sudden surge of commentary from myriad sources.

"It’s quite interesting," he remarked, acknowledging that everyone now appears to be a scrum coach. "Of course, it’s a good thing that people have an opinion, but for us it’s important to have an opinion on what we do and how we do it. The scrum is for us a very important thing in our team, it’s part of our culture. People will have their opinions, but it’s not really easy to understand what is happening in the scrum."

When addressing Rennie's specific claim that South Africa manipulates their scrum angle illegally, Human maintained that the practice has been ongoing for the past six years since he joined the Springbok team. He dismissed the allegation, stating, "Walking around? I can promise you I have never coached that. I actually want us to go forward on both sides and with the whole scrum.

It’s not actually ideal for us to walk around." Human also commented on the enforcement of the brake foot rule, which was introduced by World Rugby to mitigate axial loading by mandating hookers to maintain a forward foot during the bind. He observed that while the rule aimed to alleviate pressure on the necks of the front row, the implementation had been inconsistent, with the Boks' scrums still being scrutinized, while the All Blacks had escaped penalties despite multiple collapses.

"It [the new laws around the brake foot] was brought in to take away the pressure on the necks of the front row," Human explained. "Is it helping? I still see some heads on shoulders. We need to deal with it, it’s part of the rule and as long as it’s handled for both teams, then we are basically happy."