Bok scrum "doesn’t smell good", according to Scotland captain
Ever wondered what a rugby scrum smells like?
On the 8th of September, the Rugby World Cup kicked off in France with the reigning champions, the Springboks, hoping to make this another winning year.
And luckily for South Africans everywhere, they pulled it off.
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Many of us also saw this 2023 as an opportunity to learn more about the sport and immerse ourselves fully in the rugby experience.
Most importantly we learnt what an actual scrum is like.
In the Springboks' first match, they faced Scotland on the 10th of September, and after 80 minutes the Boks were able to secure an 18-3 victory over their fellow Pool B competitors.
While the Scots were not too happy after the loss, the Scottish captain also made spicy comments about the Springboks' smell on the field leading up to the game.
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In a press conference before the game, the captain of the team, Jamie Ritchie, was asked what it's like to scrum against the Boks and his answer was probably not what anyone was expecting.
But it will now live down in history as one of the most honest and hilarious answers to this question:
I can confirm it doesn’t smell good.
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To be fair, it's probably the case with all scrums.
His teammate, prop Zander Fagerson, also had some thoughts about scrummaging against the Springboks and shared a slightly different opinion:
It’s the best place in the world. It’s a dark art. You have to have something slightly not right with you to really enjoy those moments. They definitely are one of the best in the world. They pride themselves in that area. They’re big men and they’re all pushing the same direction.
What we can gather from this is that scrummaging is very black-and-white. Either you hate it or you love it.
But at the end of the day, when the World Cup is at stake, you just have to put your head down and push.
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