Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani reckons his pack is primed to boss their Sale Sharks rivals in Saturday’s blockbuster Champions Cup match at Cape Town Stadium.
Mense expected the Stormers pack to sukkel this season, following the departure of skipper Steven Kitshoff and fellow Springbok Marvin Orie, but their set-pieces are as solid as ever and recently dominated the powerful units of the Bulls and Sharks in the United Rugby Championship.
Anchored by Neethling Fouche and Sti Sithole, their scrum out-muscled La Rochelle in the Champions Cup on December 16 – and that was without injured double World Cup winner Frans Malherbe.
Hlungwani says: “The way we train our scrums is even tougher than a game. It’s brutal, aggressive and when the guys scrum against each other, they usually give each other advice, and it’s part of the scrum culture we created which is quite handy.
“We know when we do well, we get scrum penalties – which allows you to attack. It is something we have embraced and it is strongly driven by internal competition.”
Hlungwani is also happy to have two No.4 locks, Adre Smith and Ruben van Heerden, who is also fulfilling the role of No.5, scrumming behind the front row.
He adds: “We are moving towards a situation where we are looking for ‘positionless’ players, who operate at No.4 and No.5.”
The Stormers scrum remains one of their best weapons, and lays the platform for their backs to uit haal en wys, and this weekend, they battle a Sharks pack powered by SA-born heavies Nic Schonert, Ernst van Rhyn, Cobus Wiese and Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez.
Hlungwani says: “They are a good scrumming outfit. It is going to be a battle. We know they are going to come for us, but we will be ready.”