Rugby World Cup 2015: The Springboks' best tightheads

The selection of the tighthead props for Heyneke Meyer is laced with danger.

It is a position that very few understand, I myself as a loosehead think about tighthead props in the manner of who I want to scrum against and in general that is against taller tightheads.

The reasoning is simply because I find it easier to get underneath taller tightheads.

As an explanation I will use my son as an example. He started his rugby as a loosehead, he has natural strength in his back and legs, and with a few tutorials about the technique and strategy about how to bind for the engage he was on his way.

It did not matter how tall they were, his technique allowed him to get underneath his tighthead and with the laws of physics half the battle was won already.

The next season his coach required a tighthead and summarily moved him to that position without consulting me. I was very unhappy about it as my son comes up against players much bigger than him. My major concern was that his neck could sustain injury if these big and tall looseheads managed to lift him off the ground.

So I had only one tactic for him as a tighthead – ‘jack knife your opponent’. To explain it a tad better, you pull the opposing loosehead down as you hit him, effectively jack knifing him at the moment your momentum hits him. With his head below his hips and struggling to take in oxygen you render him useless. When this tactic bore fruit he was highly excited and explained to me in detail the grunting and snorting noises emitting from his opposing props.

I have attempted to provide video clips for the players discussed but the art of tighthead scrumming and play is so secretive that even YouTube is unlicensed to carry footage.

The tighthead cupboard for South Africa is bare when you are looking for experienced players at Test level. No matter what, Meyer will be selecting Coenie Oosthuizen and Jannie du Plessis.

Standing 1.88-metres tall and weighing in at 120 kilograms, Du Plessis is not small. Technically he isn’t bad, but the farmer and doctor from the freestate has been largely overplayed since 2012 and fatigue and overuse puts his selection in the dangerous category.

Jannie has never been the best defender, often takes the ball as first receiver and his general tendency as a nuisance cannot be undervalued. Due to the heavy work load Jannie has endured his performances of late have not been inspiring and I suspect management of his game time is going to be put at a high premium.

Due to neck injuries Oosthuizen may no longer be utilised as a loosehead prop, so for anyone wondering why Meyer has been insisting on continuing Coenie at tighthead, there is a medical reason for it.

Technically the Cheetahs scrum receives the most scrum penalties, and have been for some time, in fact Naka Drotske a few years ago made specific inquiries into the manner in which his Cheetah front row was penalised.

Oosthuizen is a big man, standing 181 metres tall and weighing in at a hefty 127 kilograms. He is built like a tighthead prop, a tad shorter than most props, being able to use his bulk well, but technically deficient in my opinion.

However Meyer’s reasoning is that there are very few scrums in the latter part of a Test match, and the benefit of Coenie being a hard-running ball carrier and being very aggressive at the breakdown outweighs any deficiencies he may have at scrum time.

Although that reasoning does have merit, the danger is what happens if Jannie du Plessis breaks down during the Rugby World Cup? Is Oosthuizen the answer come the knock-out matches?

When it comes to selecting the back-up prop it is really down to Frans Malherbe and Julian Redelinghuys. However neither are very experienced and an unfortunate injury to Malherbe excluded him from the recent tour to Europe and adding to his four international caps.

Redelinghuys was called up instead, but apart from experiencing the Springbok culture and spending time on the paddock during training sessions Meyer has not given him a chance to prove his mettle at international level.

At 1.90 metres and weighing 122 kilograms, Malherbe is a big unit, and most likely to be called up ahead of Redelinghuys, who at 1.76 metres and only 100 kilograms is significantly smaller, and one fact is certain, South African coaches will always select a big good ‘un over a smaller good ‘un.

However as the theme of Meyer’s front rows run in combinations, my choice would be to complete the Lions front row. As a unit they were top in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby last year. For a South African front row it is controversial to select a line-up with a combined weight of only 313 kilograms, however scrumming is an eight-man task, and the collective technique of the Lions front row, the combined effort and weight from the rest of the Springbok pack will benefit at scrum time as well as general play.

So to summarise, here are my three front rows for the Springboks during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Tendai Mtwarira, Bismarck du Plessis and Jannie du Plessis
Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss and Coenie Oosthuizen.
Schalk van der Merwe, Robbie Coetzee and Julian Redelinghuys.