Inside South Africa’s Bomb Squad: Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe are the 260kg fearsome giants the Springboks use to smash tired Rugby World Cup rivals as they come off the bench to f*** a man up’

• South Africa have enjoyed an impressive start to their World Cup campaign 
• They have beaten Romania and Scotland and take on Ireland on Saturday night
• Their powerful forwards and reinforcements have been key to their success 
• Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results

Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe – all 260kg of them – are squeezed on to an old sofa talking about biltong and South African vineyards. They are friendly and mild-mannered but their tone changes when the conversation turns to scrummaging. These two are cornerstones of the Bomb Squad and the scrum is their sacred chamber of aggression.

‘It’s about going into that mode to really f*** a guy up,’ explains Kitshoff, the loosehead prop who won the World Cup four years ago. ‘You can’t be passive. Every scrum is a wrestle, a fight. You’re trying to get dominance. A scrum is one of the key indicators to win games. If your scrum is dominant you’re more likely to win the game. Every scrum matters. For 80 minutes, you’re always in that fighting mindset.’

Team-mates at club and country, Malherbe packs down on the opposite side at tight-head. Together they have become the dominant force in world rugby, turning the set-piece into their trademark.

‘If you don’t get into that mindset then you’re going to go backwards,’ says Malherbe. ‘They’ll eat you alive. It’s not really a choice. It’s full-on aggression. If the loose-head is in a good position under the tight-head’s chest then you have to stay straight. It hurts your shoulder, neck, spine and legs. it feels like something is going to pop but you don’t know where. You have to remind yourself he is also feeling that so it’s about who gives up first.’

Kitshoff compares it to standing at the bottom of a 250kg squat in the gym, holding position for a few seconds as pressure comes at you from every angle. He has one piece of advice: don’t forget to breathe. ‘You get light-headed, dizziness. It’s pure pressure. If you get stuck trying to fight it, you’re holding your breath just to survive the constant pressure.

Frans Malherbe is one of the giants of the pack for South Africa at the World Cup 

There is an incredible amount of pressure as two tonnes of power push in the scrum

Steven Kitshoff explained it is about having a mindset to ‘f*** a guy up’ 

Kitshoff is required to help his team-mate stretch the shirt over his formidable form 

Sometimes you’ll stand up after a scrum and you’ll see some props take a couple of seconds for that feeling of dizziness to subside, before you can get moving again.’

They talk about ‘hanging in there’ for up to 30 seconds, as the oxygen supply begins to drop. What about the smell? ‘Terrible!’ Yet the scrum is not just a foul-odoured arm-wrestle of two-tonne manpower and aggression. It is held together by binds, angles and kinetic forces.

‘There’s a lot of things we look at,’ adds Kitshoff. ‘The speed at which their pack moves, their height, how they bind. Does their scrum collapse? Does their hooker pop out when there’s pressure through the middle? 

‘If Frans plays against a loose-head that likes to take his elbow down then Frans knows the lower he can scrum the more rewards he can get because his elbow’s going to drop. We look at all those things. 

‘Within 15 minutes of clips you can start developing a picture and then it’s just training it on the field. There’s a lot of work that goes in to getting go-forward in a scrum. When you execute it well you get that endorphin spike.’

Seamlessly taking over, Malherbe continues: ‘It’s a bit like a physics lesson. The other big part is how the whole pack scrum together. We talk about the back five – the locks and the loose trio. It’s a massive that they are committed to the scrum. That lock or that flank is thinking about what’s happening after the scrum: where do they have to go and tackle? Will he have numb legs? 

Kitshoff packs down against Scotland and is one of the most formidable props in the world 

‘If he’s tired he could have a break at the scrum and take a little breather. It’s only his mind that controls that. If you get your back five in a scrumming mindset then I think you’re going to win. 

‘It’s for them to understand there is reward – if we don’t get a penalty then the opposition will at least be on the back-foot. If it’s early in the game and the ref lets a 50-50 go then it’s at least in the ref’s mind that “this pack is dominant” and the opposition know they’re in for something today. It’s really not just the props.’

A monstrous scrum has become the USP in South Africa’s dominance. Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough. They were the first team to stack their bench with six forwards and two backs as Rassie Erasmus formulated a plan of maximum power. Other teams followed suit and against Ireland this weekend the Springboks will go even heavier, with a 7:1 split.

‘It’s something that worked very well in 2019,’ says Kitshoff. ‘The Bomb Squad is still a thing, but teams have started to understand the dynamics and the intensity of the guys we bring off the bench. It’s the last 20 minutes, how can we turn it around? It’s that pure intensity we bring.’

Malherbe speaks up the importance of teamwork in the Springboks asserting dominance 

Steven Kitshoff (pictured) and Frans Malherbe are cornerstones of South Africa’s Bomb Squad

South Africa have started the World Cup in fine form, with wins over Scotland and Romania

They are the reigning World Cup champions after they beat England in the final four years ago

Malherbe adds: ‘Last year we played a lot of 5:3 and teams picked a lot of 6:2 against us. Everyone was moaning, complaining, and we went back to 5:3. On the end of year tour everyone went 6:2 against us. The Bomb Squad comes in when it’s 6:2 – that’s my understanding.’

The likes of Kitshoff and Malherbe may not turn heads like Siya Kolisi or Cheslin Kolbe but their set-piece work is a sight to behold.

‘Guys that know their scrum will enjoy it,’ says Malherbe. ‘Generally people that want to see backlines running at each other will probably hate it after the third reset. Resets are what irritate everybody, myself as well. They’ll turn the TV off. I think if someone understands what it adds to the game and the ripple effect a scrum can have, then they can appreciate it.

‘The physicality really is something to be proud of. To keep that special thing going is a main goal for us with the Boks. There’s a responsibility to keep it up there and protect it. It can easily fade away. When you start to think it’s just going to happen by itself then it will stop.’

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