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How the rugby world responded to South Africa's ultimate flex against France
By Josh Raisey
South Africa’s epic 29-28 World Cup quarter-final win over France on Sunday had a lot going on. From a charged down conversion to a backwards penalty kick, it was a match that seemed to have it all.
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But one thing that is rarer than either of those two things is calling a scrum off a mark, so much so that many fans out there were not even aware that it is allowed. Opting for a scrum from a mark is so seldom seen that it would only really take a team like South Africa with all their scrummaging strength to go for it. Not many would expect them to do so in such a high-stakes game against a French pack who are not exactly pushovers.
When the Springboks’ fullback Damian Willemse received the ball in his own 22 with a few minutes of the first-half remaining, called for a mark and then called for a scrum, it caught many off guard. But then for the Boks to go on and actually win a penalty from the resulting scrum is one of the greatest signs of a team’s confidence in their own ability the game has ever seen, not to mention quite a flex.
Fans, pundits and players took to X as soon as the Boks pulled off this feat, and here are some of the responses:
“Scrum from a mark!? Penalty won! Know your strength and back it. Super from The Boks.”
Scrum from a mark!? Penalty won! Know your strength and back it. Super from The Boks. #FRAvsRSA
— Rob Webber (@robwebber2) October 15, 2023
“So Damian called for the mark, then took the option to scrum which resulted in a scrum pen. Talk about flexing your muscle!”
“One big takeaway from last night in particular: the Springboks have kept the faith of scrummaging even when it wasn’t being rewarded. They even called a scrum off a mark last night. And last night, they were rewarded for some brilliant scrummaging. The faith was justified.”
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“Imagine calling a mark and taking the scrum. The sheer audacity of it.”
“Didn’t even know you could call a scrum from a mark. Never seen it and then they demolished the French scrum.”
“Winning a scrum penalty after opting for a scrum off a mark is vintage South Africa.”
Winning a scrum penalty after opting for a scrum off a mark is vintage South Africa.
— Will O'Callaghan (@willocallaghan) October 15, 2023
“Calling for a scrum after that mark is pretty cocky. Is there a play coming from this set piece.”
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“The SA team are incredible. The call for a scrum from the mark is the biggest show of attitude, confidence and dominance I can ever remember seeing.”
“Never seen a scrum called from a mark. Unbelievable clarity from a team that knows what they’re about and how they want to achieve it.”
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The weather was dreadful but the playing surface was great so there is no real excuse for such another poor standard of play from both sides. Dragons just the better team. But, what a shocking decision by the TMO not to award the Fifita try. This pretty much sums up Welsh rugby with poor teams and poor officials. The WRU have a lot of work to do and it needs to be done quickly to avoid rugby being lost to our future generations.
Go to commentsNo chance of Borthwick selecting any young talent. He announced his selection policy from the outset with naming a poor OF as Captain, retaining an equally poor Youngs and Vunipola brothers when there were many better EQP in the Premiership. SB revival of Leicester was based on SA muscle and a terrific Welsh flanker he has generally ignored young English talent.
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