Ex-England lock reacts to Springboks’ ‘inventive’ lineout vs Wallabies

Wallabies assistant coach Geoff Parling has praised the Springboks for their “inventive” approach to the set-piece after the world champions threw up something “special” during last weekend’s win in Brisbane.

Nine minutes into last Saturday’s Test at Suncorp Stadium, openside flanker Ben-Jason Dixon rose highest to claim a lineout six metres out from Australia’s try line. But, incredibly, Dixon didn’t take the ball to the ground or pass it off to another player below.

Dixon instead threw the ball right back towards the sideline to find lock Eben Etzebeth who was lifted by another pod of Springboks forwards. Etzebeth handed the ball off to captain Siya Kolisi as the team set up for a maul, and that led to the first points of the afternoon.

Kolisi, who led South Africa to back-to-back Rugby World Cup crowns in 2019 and 2023, peeled off the maul to score inside the opening 10 minutes of the match. Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse scored the Springboks’ two other first-half tries.

While the Springboks went on to snap their Suncorp Stadium hoodoo with a commanding win, that lineout move was a big talking point. It was brought up in the post-match press conference, with both Rassie Erasmus and Joe Schmidt asked about the play.

That Test was about four days ago now but it’s still the talk of the town. Former England and British & Irish Lions lock Geoff Parling was asked about the lineout play on Tuesday and the Wallabies assistant coach was complimentary of the Boks’ genius.

“We know they’re a good team. Everyone knows they’re a cohesive team, a cohesive forward pack with a high number of caps, played so many games together,” Parling told reporters.

“They always stick in a little special whether it’s around a maul or a sneak around the park… they’re very inventive.

“I know we’ve got some big boys who do the basics really well. We’re fully aware of what the task was last week and we’re probably… just a bit of grounding for our lads just to say, ‘These are the current world champions.’

“As a pack, when you play against the current world champions – as a backline as well – you’ve got to be right on your game… little areas that we were inaccurate at (were) chances missed. It could’ve been a different game if we’d done our things better.

“The reviews have been pretty direct with things we could do better but mainly looking at opportunities as well, opportunities missed.”

The Springboks did try that same lineout play later in the match, which the mostly South African crowd loved, but it didn’t work out the same. It was still a sign of confidence and that’s why they go into this weekend’s clash in Perth as overwhelming favourites.

While the South Africans are riding high on the positives of that Rugby Championship victory, the Aussies have a lot of ground to make up. They barely fired a shot as the visitors ran riot with a masterful display that was fitting for the current world champions.

But to make things even tougher for the Wallabies, they’ve lost two locks for the second clash with the Boks. Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams have both been ruled out with concussions, while winger Filipo Daugunu is also out with an injury.

“I’m always disappointed to lose guys, especially when you lose blokes in the same position,” Parling explained.

“I guess we have a ‘next man up’ mentality. The lads that come in have been excellent, they’ve trained really well, learning really fast.

“The rest of the group, the players as well, they’re taking them to the side and teaching them. So far they’ve fit in really well.”