Jake White

“I remember Butch James saying that with Fourie (du Preez) playing at 9, you could play anyone at 10.”

“Their accuracy hasn’t quite been there, so with Handre Pollard not selected or injured, they’ve decided they need guaranteed points from the boot”

“The Jonny Wilkinsons, Joel Stranskys and Dan Carters of this world win you tournaments. Since July, the Boks have maybe left more points out on the field than they’d like.”

“Is it the ankle injury, or are they not sure his kicking percentages are ready for Test rugby yet and don’t want to overburden him as he’s managing the game? I’d say it’s the latter and they’re lucky they have Cheslin (Kolbe) as backup because Manie (Libbok) for all his talents, isn’t renowned as a Test kicker off the deck”

“No one will ever know exactly what goes into the recipe or it loses its uniqueness. It makes you smile to think, maybe the All Blacks listened to Doc at the bow of a boat all those years ago and it’s now part of their classified intellectual IP.”

“Yes, rugby is constantly evolving but at the same time maybe there should always be mystery at scrum time. To my mind, to depower it would be egregious.””

“Ultimately, it boils down to a robust technical debate. Everyone is making such a big deal of it, but they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that’s what we’re perhaps seeing at scrum time.”

“No one is saying one team is cheating, it’s maybe more that the All Blacks have cottoned on to what the Springboks are doing.”

“Both sides are looking for an edge. They’re looking for an achilles heel to exploit any weakness.”

“After a game, I often see front rows sitting together at post-match functions having a beer and locked in deep conversations about the scrum battle.”

“For me, there’s a reason we go misty-eyed at talk of the ‘dark arts’ of scrummaging,.”

“I don't say that lightly because Os to me is probably the best loosehead prop South Africa has ever had and probably one of the best the world has ever seen.”