De Villiers insists set- piece joy down to hard work
SCOTLAND scrum guru Pieter de Villiers says there is no hidden secret to the transformation in the national team’s set- piece since he got involved just under a year ago, just hard work and a focus on doing the basics well.
In the recent past, Scottish packs have struggled to achieve parity at scrum time, but during the course of the recent Six Nations they have weaponised that part of the game to the point where props Rory Sutherland and Zander Fagerson have emerged as genuine Lions Test match contenders.
“No big secrets – hard work is important, and having good basics as well,” said De Villiers ( inset) when asked about what he had changed. “The players might say I’m a hard task master, I don’t know, but we do have intensive scrum sessions when we spend time and make sure we work hard.
“Unity is important, speed work is important, and endurance is extremely important. At this level, you need to sometimes be patient and wait for things to happen. I have to commend the players because for all that we’ve had some very hard sessions, not once has there been a player who wasn’t into it. That shows how hard work and attitude pays off. “The referee plays a big role as well,” he added.
“The scrum is difficult to officiate already, so it’s important that teams present the referee with a good picture to show that they are doing it legally.”
The Scottish pack know they will face a mighty test this afternoon when they take on Italian opposition who also pride themselves on their set- piece prowess.
“The players have done well up until now and we’ll be ready for that challenge,” said De Villiers. “We know they’ll come at us strongly, they’ll take confidence from the place they’re playing, they beat the Springboks on that pitch in 2016, and the size of the pitch makes it probably more of an up- front and physical battle.
“There’s always room for improvement and we’re working on the little details. The scrum is such a battle, even if you get the better of the opposition in one scrum, at the next one they’ll be even more motivated to come at you. Consistency is really important and we’ll continue to chip away at the detail and make sure every scrum is better than the previous one.”
Scottish Rugby says they will not be able to approve their accounts in time to be presented to member clubs ahead of the governing body’s AGM, which is scheduled to take place by video conference on November 26.
A statement from Murrayfield said that “additional work needs to be done before the accounts are approved”, which is bound to spark concern about how the finances are being managed given that the 2019- 20 financial year ended on 31st May, meaning that Murrayfield has had 160 days to get their house in order.