Africa-Press – South-Africa. Legendary Springbok lock Victor Matfield said criticism of Joseph Dweba’s performance at hooker has been unfair as the Boks get ready for their European tour.
Dweba is the third-choice Bok hooker, but was pressed into reasonable service after Bongi Mbonambi suffered a knee injury in the build-up to the All-Black at Ellis Park on 13 August and against Australia on 27 August.
He didn’t play in the subsequent Tests in Sydney and the two matches against Argentina as Deon Fourie was listed as the reserve hooker.
Mbonambi returned to the Bok squad and came off the bench in the 24 September Test against Argentina at King’s Park.
Matfield, whose hookers on his 2001 Test debut against Italy were John Smit and Lukas van Biljon, with Bismarck du Plessis and Adriaan Strauss being his hookers in his last Test, said Dweba’s shouldered blame that shouldn’t be coming in his direction.
“I think they have been very harsh on him. If you look at the Test matches he has played in, it wasn’t always his fault,” Matfield said.
“There were a few incorrect calls that were made. I think his throwing isn’t all that bad, but the more he plays with the Stormers, the better he’ll get.
“He’s got good locks there where they’ll communicate well, and the confidence will grow from there. He can then grow with that at Test level.”
With the rolling maul set to be a common feature of the Springboks’ end-of-year tour next month where they will be playing against Ireland, France, Italy, and England, Matfield said he found it weird that teams aren’t trying to sack the maul when they’re on defence.
Ireland used their maul to devastating effect in their comeback 2-1 series win against New Zealand earlier this year.
The Boks have also relied heavily on their maul, but it didn’t have the required return on investment, especially against Australia and New Zealand.
“It’s funny how tactics change because I hardly see teams trying to sack the maul,” Matfield said.
“I believe that’s the best way to defend a maul because it forces guys to be in a certain position in the lineout.
“The moment a maul is set, the defending side is in trouble, and you need to stop that maul before it is set.
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“There are two ways of doing this: Through sacking the maul or contesting the lineout to mess up the lineout ball.
“You can also allow them to set, but in a certain way with your best sacker in position to disrupt the maul.
“It’s amazing that teams are trying to stop the maul without sacking it.”
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