Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett says South Africa’s demolition job at scrum time was the defining force behind their 24-13 win over Ireland in Dublin.
The outspoken pundit described the Bok pack’s performance as both ruthless and deeply personal.
Speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, Mallett said the world champions were “so much better” than the scoreline suggested, and that the scrum told the real story of the Test.
“My view was 24-13 was absolutely the best that they could have got out of that game. And it was almost the worst we could have got,” Mallett said.
“We scored four tries, but we were so much better than that. We could have scored another a couple had [referee Matthew] Carley been harsher on them around at the breakdown and around the driving maul.
“They were just destroyed in the scrum. They gave away a penalty at virtually every scrum, and we kept on going to the scrum again because that’s within the laws and they just couldn’t handle it.”
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Mallett said the Boks’ dominance was so overwhelming that it felt as though the pack were out to make a point.
“I love the way we demolished them in the scrum but once or twice we should have probably taken three points. Maybe that would have made them chase the game a bit more. But I also got the feeling that it almost felt very personal for the Boks – that they almost wanted to hurt Ireland through the scrum.”
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While much of the post-match discussion centred on Carley’s officiating, Mallett said the English referee started strongly before feeling the weight of the occasion in the second half.
“I think I was pretty complimentary about Carley at half-time during my SuperSport slot. I thought that he was sticking to his guns … I thought he stuck to the letter of the law, spoke to the guys, gave a yellow card, gave another yellow card. I thought he got the red card … spot on.”
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But the former Bok boss said Ireland’s second-half infringing went unpunished despite repeated offences close to the tryline.
“We had a period where we were – I don’t know, 10 to 15 minutes, maybe longer – in their 22 and they must have given away repeated penalties around scrums, around the driving maul, around offsides, around coming in from the side from a ruck,” he said.
“I mean, it was quite extraordinary … They could have got up to eight yellow cards in that game, and by the end of the game the pressure just got to him. I mean, we got penalised for celebrating. I’ve never seen that happen in my life on a rugby field before.”
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