The Springbok Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has explained the decision by the fullback, Damian Willemse, to call for a scrum in the 22m area during Sunday’s thrilling Rugby World Cup semi-final against France in Paris.

The Boks would ultimately win the knockout game 29-28 to advance to the semi-finals where they will face the 2019 losing finalists, England.

While the match at Stade de France will long be remembered for the brutal physicality, there was a moment in the 37th minute which was very unusual and rare on a rugby field at any level.

Willemse caught the ball in his own 22m area from a Louis Bielle-Biarrey clearance, and then called for the mark, without any pressure from a French player. The norm would be for the catcher to kick the ball into touch from the mark, and thus hand possession back to their opponents. Instead, Willemse bumped his fists together to indicate to the referee Ben O'Keefe, that they will go for a scrum instead of kicking for touch. At this stage of the game the score was still deadlocked at 19-19.

Erasmus, who is known for tactical innovations, told OFM Sport that Willemse’s action was something that was discussed and planned, and it was brought in to force the French to scrum, something they are brilliant at, but tend not to give their opponents.

“It was something that was discussed because France don’t give you a lot of scrums,” said Erasmus.

“They don’t play a lot of rugby in their half, and you never get down to actually scrum against them. In the previous match when we played against them in Marseille last year, we had one scrum in the whole game.

“They love kicking long - long kicks that land in your 22. Then you have two options - you kick the ball out, it’s their line-out, or try and run it back to the 10-yard line when they stand waiting for you, and wait for the big turnover there.

“We tried to get as many scrums as possible and I think after that one they kicked their kicks became much shorter or they let them bounce into the 22.”

This was certainly a phycological message to the French from the world champions as well, one of ‘if you want to kick into our 22, we will scrum you for it’.

While there is always the risk of something going wrong, the Boks do back their scrum, which is arguably the best in the world. The reward is potentially huge as well, with a scrum penalty on the cards.

Erasmus hinted that it is something that worked for them, but it’s a tactic that will probably not be used again during Saturday’s semi-final against the English.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport