United Rugby Championship: Bulls scrum coach Werner Kruger urges forwards to ‘balance their aggression’ against Stormers
Bulls scrum coach Werner Kruger has urged his pack of forwards to ‘balance their aggression’ when they go up against the Stormers in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship (URC) derby in Pretoria.
As a former Bulls front-row, Kruger was involved in several highly charged Super Rugby and Currie Cup derbies against the Stormers and Western Province.
The 38-year-old used last week’s Round Two Six Nations showdown between World Rugby’s top-ranked teams – Ireland and France in Dublin – as an illustration of how forwards need to keep cool heads in key games.
France played with 14 men for 10 minutes during the first half of that Test after their front-row Uini Atonio was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Ireland hooker Rob Herring.
Les Bleus eventually suffered a 32-19 defeat which ended their 14-match winning streak.
Although the Stormers‘ pack will be without experienced players like 2019 Rugby World Cup-winning front-row duo Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, due to Springbok resting protocols, Kruger is wary of their scrum, which destroyed the Sharks at the set-piece a fortnight ago.
“They’ve got confidence in their scrum, and they back their scrum,” he said. “One mustn’t forget that a scrum is a unit, and when it functions well, things roll with that momentum.
Wary of the Stormers pack
“As a forward unit and as a team, they’ve been going very well this season. There’s a fine line between balancing aggression and getting the accuracy right.
“You have to look at France’s prop getting a red [yellow] card, so there’s a fine line in coming with loads of aggression, while also getting it right with execution.”
An area of concern for the former Springbok is how inconsistent the Bulls‘ forwards have performed in the URC this season.
There have been matches where they delivered outstanding performances, while in other encounters, they were dominated by their opponents.
They can ill afford an off day against the Stormers, who have won their last four URC clashes against the Bulls, but Kruger is backing his troops to be at their best on Saturday.
“The Stormers do all of their basics very well, which will be a massive challenge for us, but the one thing for us with our scrum is our inconsistency,” he said.
“We’ll go well for two to three weeks, then drop off a bit. Players don’t need additional hype for the North/South Derby, especially with the tickets that have been sold.”
Click Here: Women football kit sets