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The Brits verdict on England lining up Proudfoot, architect of their RWC scrum demise
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.
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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?
Rugby World magazine stirs the pot with a World XV for 2019 where South Africa don't have it all their own way
https://t.co/hLPjphfOE8— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 10, 2019
“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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Ohhhffff.
We've seen Hollywood marriages more stable than this…??https://t.co/sFiHynreMg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 9, 2019
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.”
Heineken Champions Cup | Round 4 live scores, stats, commentary, news, and more: https://t.co/g9GOSA38K8 pic.twitter.com/J0LczrhxVv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 9, 2019
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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Comments on RugbyPass
Adding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
2 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
2 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to comments