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'How can I say this the right way?': Bok prop addresses Wallabies' gamesmanship

Referee Paul Williams points to the spot for the scrum to be taken during The Rugby Championship match between the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks at Adelaide Oval on August 27, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sue McKay/Getty Images)

Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff played it coy when asked about the gamesmanship on show by the Wallabies in their 25-17 win in Adelaide.

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The referees deemed it necessary to yellow card scrumhalf Faf de Klerk for a swinging arm after Nic White fell to the ground in dramatic fashion.

Another sore talking point was the Wallabies tackling and use of force around the breakdown which South African media and fans took exception too.

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Kitshoff said the Springboks aren’t looking for ‘shortcuts’ and want to play the game within the laws.

“How can I say this the right way? We want to play the game inside the law book, with as much aggression, power, and speed as possible,” Kitshoff told media.

“We never look for shortcuts in any way.

“When games are played, you are trying to get the upper hand as much as possible.

“It all comes down to the referee’s interpretation and the way the ARs [assistant referees] are seeing the game.

“I don’t want to comment on them getting away with certain tricks or tactics.

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“We just want to play a great Test match.”

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The 62-test veteran wanted to persist with the set-piece centric game plan despite the maul not firing in Adelaide.

They were able to draw a number of infringements from the Wallabies to play advantage from but weren’t able to capitalise on those opportunities.

“The big thing for us with mauls is that it is creating a platform to either strike from, kick from or gain points,” he said.

“Looking back at this weekend’s game, even though the maul didn’t get a lot of momentum, we still got six penalty advantages that we could play from.

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“In my opinion, I still feel the maul is a big weapon and a big part of the fundamentals of rugby.

“Even though it doesn’t look like you are gaining 10 to 20 metres, you are still actually creating an opportunity to score three points or getting a free play under a penalty advantage.”

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Michael Röbbins (academic and writer extraordinair 842 days ago

One would have thought Faf swung like Michael Jennings in 2012 Origin 1 the way dog laxative N. White went down. I think the former was merely swiping away some crumbs from the latter’s soup catcher.

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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