Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe – all 260kg – are squeezed onto an old sofa and talk about Biltong and South African vineyards. They are friendly and gentle, but their tone changes when the conversation turns to scrumming. These two are cornerstones of the Bomb Squad and the scrum is their sacred chamber of aggression.
“It’s about going into that mode to really prank someone,” explains Kitshoff, the loose-headed prop who won the World Cup four years ago. ‘You can’t be passive. Every scrum is a struggle, a fight. You are trying to gain dominance. A scrum is one of the most important indicators of winning games. If your scrum is dominant, you are more likely to win the game. Every scrum is important. For 80 minutes you’re always in that fighting mentality.’
Malherbe, teammates at club and country, takes the other side with a straight head. Together they have become the dominant force in world rugby, making the backdrop their trademark.
“If you don’t get into that mindset, you’re going to go backwards,” Malherbe says. ‘They will eat you alive. It’s not really a choice. It’s pure aggression. If the loose head is well under the chest of the tight head, you should stay straight. It hurts your shoulder, neck, spine and legs. it feels like something is going to pop, but you don’t know where. You have to remind yourself that he feels it too, so it’s all about who gives up first.”
Kitshoff likens it to standing at the bottom of a 500-pound squat at the gym, holding this position for a few seconds as pressure comes at you from every angle. He has one piece of advice: don’t forget to breathe. ‘You get light-headed, dizzy. It’s pure pressure. When you get stuck trying to fight it, you hold your breath to survive the constant pressure.
Steven Kitshoff (photo) and Frans Malherbe are the cornerstones of the South African Bomb Squad
The Bomb Squad has become synonymous with the Boks changing the entire front row during matches (photo – Malherbe during their 18-3 win over Scotland at the World Cup)
Sometimes you get up after a scrum and you see that with some props it takes a few seconds for that feeling of dizziness to go away before you can start moving again.’
They talk about ‘hanging in there’ for up to 30 seconds as the oxygen supply starts to drop. What about the smell? ‘Horrible!’ Yet the scrum is not just a stinking arm-wrestle of two tons of manpower and aggression. It is held together by bonds, angles and kinetic forces.
“There are a lot of things we’re looking at,” Kitshoff added. ‘The speed at which their pack moves, their length, how they bond. Will their scrum collapse? Does their whore pop out when there is pressure through the middle? When Frans plays against a loose-head who likes to drop his elbow, Frans knows that the lower he can scrum, the more rewards he can get because his elbow will drop. We look at all those things. Within 15 minutes of the clips you can start developing a photo and then it’s just training on the field. It takes a lot of work to make progress in a scrum. If you do it right, you get that endorphin rush.”
Malherbe takes over seamlessly and continues: ‘It’s a bit like a physics lesson. The other big part is how the whole pack comes together. We talk about the back five – the locks and the loose trio. It’s huge that they are committed to the scrum. That lock or that flank thinks about what happens after the scrum: where should they tackle? Will he have numb legs? If he is tired, he can take a break from the scrum and catch his breath. It’s only his mind that controls that. If you get your back five in a scrum mentality, I think you’re going to win. It is up to them to understand that there is a reward. If we are not punished, the opposition will at least remain in the background. If it’s early in the game and the referee lets it go 50-50, at least the referee thinks “this pack is dominant” and the opposition knows they’re in for something today. It’s really not just the props.’
A monstrous battle has become the USP of South Africa’s dominance. Come and give it a try if you think you’re tough enough. They were the first team to stack their bench with six forwards and two backs when Rassie Erasmus formulated a maximum power plan. Other teams followed suit and against Ireland the Springboks will go even tougher this weekend, with a 7:1 split.
“It’s something that has worked really well in 2019,” Kitshoff says. “The Bomb Squad still exists, but teams are starting to understand the dynamism and intensity of the guys we bring off the bench. It’s the last 20 minutes, how can we turn it around? It is that pure intensity that we bring.’
South Africa have started the World Cup in good form, with victories over Scotland and Romania
They are the reigning World Cup champions after beating England in the final four years ago
Malherbe adds: ‘Last year we played a lot of 5:3 and teams chose a lot of 6:2 against us. Everyone groaned and complained, and we went back to 5:3. On the end of year tour everyone went 6:2 against us. The Bomb Squad comes in when it’s 6:2 – that’s what I understand.’
The likes of Kitshoff and Malherbe may not attract attention like Siya Kolisi or Cheslin Kolbe, but their steady work is a sight to behold.
“Guys who know their scrum will enjoy it,” says Malherbe. “Generally speaking, people who want to see backlines running at each other will probably hate it after the third reset. Resets are what annoys everyone, including me. They turn off the TV. I think if someone understands what it brings to the game and the ripple effect a scrum can have, he or she can appreciate it.
‘The physicality is really something to be proud of. Keeping that special thing going is a key goal for us at the Boks. It is a responsibility to keep it there and protect it. It can fade easily. If you start thinking that it will work itself out, it will stop.’