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The Brits verdict on England lining up Proudfoot, architect of their RWC scrum demise

England's Dan Cole gets lifted up in a scrum during the World Cup final loss to South Africa. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Schalk Brits believes England will be the “perfect fit” for Matthew Proudfoot, who is set to join Eddie Jones’s coaching team and repair the scrum damage he helped inflict when South Africa won the World Cup final in Japan.

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England’s scrum was put into reverse by the Springboks after Harlequins prop Kyle Sinckler was forced off in the opening minutes with a concussion and replacement Dan Cole found himself under intense pressure as South Africa powered their way to a 32-12 triumph in Yokohama. 

Proudfoot – who won four caps for Scotland and played for Glasgow and Edinburgh – is now expected to be revealed shortly as the man to replace Neal Hatley as the England scrum coach after Jones’ assistant took up a role with Bath in the Gallagher Premiership.

Former Saracens hooker Brits, who was included in the Springbok World Cup squad to add vital experience, worked closely with Proudfoot whose contract with the champions came to an end after the final. 

Rassie Erasmus has now stepped down as Springboks coach to focus on his role as director of rugby at SA Rugby with defence coach Jacques Nienaber expected to take over the main job and former Southern Kings coach Deon Davids set to replace Proudfoot as forwards coach.

(Continue reading below…)

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South Africa’s loss will be England’s gain, reckoned Brits. “Matthew will galvanise those England forwards to be the best they can be,” he told RugbyPass. 

“He was a great attribute to the Springboks and will be for England if he gets the job. He will be a big loss to the Boks. The two teams who will really push England going forward are New Zealand and South Africa and Matthew will bring a lot of technical knowledge with him. It will put England in good stead.

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“England are getting a coach who I worked with at the World Cup where we lost just one lineout and the set-piece wasn’t too bad, was it?

“It will be a good fit for England and I believe Matthew’s heart is in the right place – he cares for the players. He invests in the guys he is coaching and is passionate and emotional about his players and protects them. Really caring about the person is a great attribute.

“If you look at the England pack, they don’t need a lot of technical advice although Matthew can provide that because he is a great scrum coach and also a lineout expert, especially on defence. He has grown a lot as a coach and a person. 

“If you look at someone like Mako Vunipola then technically there is not a lot that you offer him or guys like Jamie George, Maro Itoje and George Kruis, but you get the guys together to believe in one goal and the pack goes forward and so does the team.”

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Brits, who is still intending to try and play in the 2020 Varsity Match once he starts studying at Cambridge University next September, believes Proudfoot’s experience of northern hemisphere rugby as a player in Scotland will give him a crucial understanding of rugby in this area of the world. 

“It is a totally different game compared to the rugby in the southern hemisphere,” explained Brits. “In the northern hemisphere if your set-piece doesn’t function then your game doesn’t. Premiership and Heineken Cup rugby is the nearest you get to playing Test rugby from a set-piece perspective.”

Brits admitted that the Springbok dominance in the scrum during the final in Yokohama was significantly helped by the early injury suffered by tighthead Sinckler which saw him replaced by Cole after just two minutes. 

“With Kyle being injured it meant that our six forwards and two backs split replacements worked perfectly for our squad. It meant that Dan had to play almost the entire game against two fresh loosehead props and that was extremely difficult.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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