The Springboks rode their luck at times against the Wallabies at the weekend but there were a lot of positives to take – their lineout being one of them.

It wasn’t perfect, sure, but it gave them a pretty reliable platform to build off as the game wore on. I thought it might be good to have a look at it and have a look at some interesting maul builds they looked to be experimenting with.

First, their lineout;

This is a fairly typical lineout scheme for the Boks and it’s particularly worth looking at because it has four legitimate jumping options. I’ve highlighted them here.

Du Toit, Elstadt, De Jager and Etzebeth are all good jumping options and this arrangement gives them a few variations to work off depending on what the Wallabies show them in defence all through the line. South Africa used three of the four options here during this game – Du Toit (2), Etzebeth (3) and De Jager (6) – but the Wallabies still had to think about Elstadt as a potential option.

For the most part, the above lineout is broken down into two main areas with distinct parts depending on where the Springboks are looking to throw to. This is a full 7 man lineout scheme.

The Springboks used slightly different schemes depending on their number count but the rough principle of their overall design was the same; Etzebeth and De Jager stacked closely in the front or middle, with Du Toit as the tail jumping option. Louw being at the tail of the lineout was usually a sign that the Boks weren’t mauling and, instead, going to the midfield off a pass down from the top of the jump.

As for their jumping combinations, Etzebeth was a jumping option but was primarily a lifter on De Jager to the middle. On shorter lineouts, Du Toit lifting De Jager was from the tail was also a common enough sight.

The interesting thing in these Springbok schemes is the lack of pre-throw movement.

Have a look at these;

The most movement you see here is Etzebeth jumping out of the line on a feint. The rest of their schemes are almost entirely based on jumping from start position. This is where this no pre-throw movement to shake off counter-jumpers and the lineout target jumps from the position they started the lineout movement in.

This layout needs a lot of jumping threats to work and the Boks certainly have that. Australia’s primary counter-jumpers – Rodda, Arnold and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto – could never afford to focus on one jump location because of the Boks range in the lineout. The Australian counter-jumpers needed a two-man lift pod to get near the Bok’s big jumpers – De Jager in particular – and moving that kind of counter-jumping unit around when you’ve got three potential targets that aren’t moving takes as much luck as it does skill. Realistically, the Boks could hit Etzebeth, De Jager or Du Toit, never mind their alternative option in Elstadt, with any combination of jumpers and lifters.

In this lift, De Jager triggers the throw with an eyebrow raise when he catches the Wallaby counter-launch pod napping.

The Wallabies were going to put two men in the air – at the cost of six men overall with Pocock trailing around the corner – but they bet incorrectly on Du Toit and Etzebeth, leaving De Jager with a clean catch, even if his delivery to Jantjies was a little off.

One of the main benefits of using a static lineout scheme like this is the mauling advantages it gives you, and the Boks were looking to try out some new things here, too.

A static jump position for De Jager gives the Springbok pack a set target to structure around before the throw comes in but it’s the specific build that the Boks are going for that interests me.

It’s a variant of this.

The lifting pod of Etzebeth, Elstadt and De Jager set the position, with Du Toit binding on Elstadt and Louw. Du Toit is in an important position here because he’s in two layers at once – the primary layer (green) AND the secondary drive (yellow). Louw has excellent grip position underneath De Jager, and he’s protected by Etzebeth and Gqoboka locking him up on that side. Koch and Brits will add the third layer and Koch’s role is really important because he has to read where the Wallabies are counter-shoving and brace against it.

Once the maul is set, we can see Louw transferring the ball back to Gqoboka to move to the second shove.

The build at this stage is important because the Wallabies will look to surge up the flanks of the maul to disrupt the transfer before Brits comes into the picture. How do the Boks stop this? By building “suspension” into the sides of the maul.

Etzebeth angles himself outwards to prevent Arnold from crawling up the side. Du Toit keeps his shape on the far side with Elstadt acting as a pivot point with De Jager.

The Wallabies’ numbers are all on the infield side, however, so they’ll look to surge right up the infield flank. The Boks are prepared for this, though and I think they were planning for it.

The Wallabies shoot hard on the infield side but Ellstadt and Du Toit have acted as a type of “suspension” to brace against the surge and protect against bound “swimmers”. The Springboks pivot with the infield pressure.

Now we see what Koch was there for – to brace against the surge. If the Springboks can keep a straight line going towards the try line, they’re in business.

Elstadt has lost his shape on this, which ultimately kills the maul in my opinion but Du Toit, Gqoboka and Koch – with Brits at the tail – are in a position to drive forward with Louw and Etzebeth soaking up the touchline pressure.

Hooper and Rodda (circled) haven’t been able to get on the ball side and the Springboks have a straight run forward once Brits locks in.  

From there, the Springboks try to move forward. They get good momentum after soaking up the Wallaby counter but there are two main problems.

1. Elstadt is standing up and dead in the water when it comes to adding pressure on the infield side. Rodda and another Wallaby forward are really pressurising him and that’s hurting the touchline side of the maul as a consequence.
2. Johnson-Holmes has a good grip on Louw and it’s squeezing Gqoboka out.

Eventually, Johnson-Holmes drives through Louw to separate the Springbok layers. There’s only so long you can defend against a guy with a good side on angle of attack like this.

Rodda’s attack from the other side – inside the gap Elstadt should be filling – shears off the front of the maul and allows Arnold to attack over the top and get the sack.

It’s a lot more complicated than Elstadt losing position but I believe that if he had kept his shape at the base of De Jager, the Boks would have had a great chance of driving this beyond the 5m line. It was a “shield maul” in action with all the pieces you’d expect. A wide front, collapsable parts to absorb flank attacks, and a central drive to attack the fanned out Wallaby counter shove.

The Boks made a better fist of it on a shortened lineout a few minutes later. Again, it’s a static lineout.

Etzebeth is able to dominate the surge from Arnold on the touchline side and wrap back around the front. Du Toit is attacking the infield defenders and the other lifter on De Jager does a great job of keeping his shape – the result; a dominant Springbok maul.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Springboks can perfect it further this weekend.