Springboks sweat on how to deal with All Blacks' scrum and maul

Scary...Karl Tu'inukuafe's scrummaging is laying a great platform for the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport

The Springboks have been heaping praise the All Black pack - and lifting the lid on the world of scrums and mauls.

Springboks forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot, a South African who played a handful of tests in the Scottish front row, described the All Blacks pack as "incredible".

Ahead of Sunday morning's test in Pretoria, Proudfoot said the All Blacks scrum and their new emphasis on the rolling maul were pivotal to how the world champions are operating.

"The maul is such a crucial weapon to rugby — it puts eight forwards in one space and creates space for backs to attack from," Proudfoot said.

"It is very important to maintain the integrity of it in world rugby.

"That's the importance of a scrum — a team that can scrum well keeps opposition flanks bound and allows a backline to attack really flat, create momentum It's the same with the maul.

"If you look at the way the All Blacks attack they use that platform really well.

"They play off the maul, make you sit at scrum time. Just ask our flanks how difficult it is to get out of scrum and defend when the tight five is asking for that extra pressure.

"That's the importance of set phase — it creates space. Everyone thinks it is just a start of a game, but it gives backs a lot of space to operate if you have good steppers and players who run good hard lines. That's when you start to cut opposition defences.

"I'm not saying this just as forward coach but as a rugby purist. The integrity of scrum, lineout and maul needs to be well preserved.

"That gives space. Otherwise, you get 15 guys in flat line with no space to play. When South Africa is good they've had a powerful maul to play."

Proudfoot said the All Blacks had an incredible pack of forwards. While he heaped praise on the rising lock Scott Barrett he said the All Blacks may have lost some of their lineout authority through the breakup of the Brodie Retallick/Sam Whitelock/Kieran Read combination.

He said the All Black scrum liked to use a "late shove (and) come from different angles)".

The Springboks have a few front row options and are particularly conscious of which scrum anchor to put up against the All Blacks.

And while the rising loosehead Karl Tu'inukuafe - who has been destroying opponents - wasn't mentioned by name, he is clearly uppermost in their mind.

Frans Malherbe played tighthead against the Wallabies last week, and the Springboks also have Wilco Louw and Trevor Nyakane - who can play both sides - in the squad.

On the loosehead side, veteran Tendai Mtawarira started against the Wallabies last week, but Stephen Kitshoff wore the No. 1 jersey against the All Blacks in Wellington.

"We'll have to be very smart about our selection of tighthead," Proudfoot said.

"We know the All Blacks pose a very big threat at scrum time. They are very, very good and a fantastic scrummaging unit. It's the biggest challenge, they are superb."