Padova – You would think Italy wouldn’t have much chance of upsetting the Springboks in Saturday’s Test, but they have a front row that could just inspire the team to play above themselves and turn the game into a nightmare for the South Africans.
Matias Aguero, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Martin Castrogiovanni are all experienced operators in the dark world of the scrums, and the Italian trio reportedly more than held their own against the mighty Argentina scrum that in turn destroyed the Bok scrum during the Rugby Championship.
But the Bok scrum has made enormous progress since then, to the point that it can be regarded as one of the team’s strengths at the moment. Coach Heyneke Meyer, knows that he needs to find out just how good the back-up props are in case Mtawa-rira and Du Plessis get inju-red, especially with the Rugby World Cup coming up next year.
That is why the coach named Trevor Nyakane in the starting team yesterday for the first time, while Coenie Oosthuizen gets another chance at tighthead as Du Plessis is out with a hamstring problem.
In addition, Adriaan Strauss continues at hooker, so it is an all-Cheetahs front row, although Nyakane and Strauss will join the Bulls next season.
Nyakane has made 11 appea-rances off the bench, and now he has to make his first start against a powerhouse scrummager in Castrogiovanni. If he wants to challenge Mtawarira for the No1 jersey, he will need to prove himself on Saturday.
“Beast has played a lot and while I don’t believe in resting players, he is struggling with cramps that he had in the last game, and I don’t want to lose him now. But by saying that, if Beast gets injured in the World Cup – he is clearly the No1 at this stage – then Trevor has to (be ready). Beast can’t start every game in the World Cup,” Meyer said yesterday.
“Trevor was brilliant from the bench and he is improving a hell of a lot as a player and he is really fit. But it’s different playing 15 to 20 minutes off the bench when the game opens up and there are not a lot of scrums. The test for him is to start against one of the best scrumming teams in the world.
“When Leicester played against the Boks in 2009, they totally outscrummed the Boks that day with Castrogiovanni at tighthead for Leicester and Steenkamp the Bok loosehead, so I know what they can do.
“But we have to find answers on this tour as well, so the-re’s never a better time than now. Gur-thrö is experien-ced, but he’s also going to get enough game time to see what he can do.”
Oosthuizen made his name as a barnstorming loosehead prop, but Meyer said yesterday that he has had to switch to tighthead due to problems with his neck.
But the coach was confident that the Cheetahs front-rower can replicate the solid display he produced when he started at No3 against France in Paris last year.
Julian Redelinghuys was a star for the Lions in the Currie Cup and is a specialist tighthead, but Meyer didn’t want to throw him into the deep end against such a strong Italian scrum.
“I still believe that Coenie can develop into a quality tighthead, so it’s also a huge thing for him. He is always a brilliant impact player when the game opens up, but against a hell of a French pack last year, he did brilliantly,” Meyer said.
The Bok front row will face further scrutiny in that regard because a French referee, Jerome Garces, will be in charge at the Stadio Euganeo on Saturday as northern-hemisphere officials tend to police the scrums differently to those from the south. - The Star