Emirates Lions Assistant coach Julian Redelinghuys said their front row has shown that they can interchange their big props against some strong opposition, inspired by the Springboks' "Bomb Squad".
“I’ve said this before, I believe the strength of this pack is down to the competition between the guys,” said Redelinghuys.
“If you look at our tightheads, we’ve got Dreyer, Asa, Ruan Smith and Beertjie, so we’ve got great tightheads. At loosehead, we’ve got Morgan and JP."
“These guys scrum against each other every week and they make each other better."
“Their toughest scrumming opposition is on Wednesdays, not on Saturdays."
“These guys push each other really hard in the week and make each other better."
“It’s lekker for us to say we can use our subs and impact players like a Bomb Squad and expect the same set-piece. And if they’re competing against, say, a second-string front row we should get more dominance."
“We can use our impact players to come on like a bomb squad. You can bring them on and expect the same set-piece dominance and then if they are up against a second-string front row, we should get more dominance. It’s something we still want to get better at.”
“For us, selection is about what the game needs and there are a lot of things to consider. The scrum is a big part of a front row’s job but it’s also about how we play on the weekend and what we expect from the opposition."
“It’s selecting the best guys for what we expect the game to be and how the game will end, so it is a little bit of strategy from our side."
“It’s not necessarily the best guy or second-best guy. It’s about the best player and combinations for this specific game.”
The Emirates Lions will host Munster who climbed to third on the overall standings following Munster's win over the Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria.
“From the Irish teams, if you can put a word like ‘tough’ on one of them, it’s Munster and Connacht that are really tough teams,” Redelinghuys warned.
“They’ve got that never-say-die attitude, and there’s a reason they won the URC last year. they played their quarter-final, semi-final and final away which speaks a lot to their way of play and their attitude, just the fight they have in them."
“Their coaches drive that really hard, which you can see, and in our view, they are a really tough team and you can’t just think they’ll go lie down even though you’re ahead. Like against the Bulls, who started to get an upper hand but Munster never quit or threw the towel in, and kept fighting hard.”