All Blacks loosehead George Bower has thrown down the gauntlet to the Springboks ahead of Saturday’s third Test in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, insisting New Zealand are more than willing to meet the world champions in the trenches.
The scrum has become a major talking point in the series after the All Blacks struggled under pressure at Ellis Park in the opening Test, before the Boks again gained the upper hand at set-piece time in parts of last weekend’s 33-26 victory in Cape Town.
With the series locked at 1-1, Bower believes the All Blacks have no reason to shy away from another heavyweight battle when the sides meet at FNB Stadium in Soweto (17:10 kick-off).
And while a war of words has been going on around the scrum, Bower says he just looks forward to packing down opposite one of the best scrums in the world. Since rejoining the All Blacks, he has been an anchor for the side, bringing stability at set-piece time and proving a tough challenge for the Bok tightheads during the tour.
"Oh, I love to scrum. I want to scrum," Bower said on Thursday.
"There’s been a lot of talk around both sides of the scrum, but it comes down to that first scrum. We’ll see who does the talking.
"I know South Africa’s mindset is they pride themselves on their scrum, and they see it as their avenue to get penalties and move up the field. For us as well, you can see after Test one our mindset for our scrum is we’re right up there as well.
"We want to challenge them. We know they’re coming, but we’re coming too. I want to scrum and I know my back five want to scrum as well. As a pack, we must just focus on our connection and tightness, our brace and our set, and hopefully that nullifies what the South Africans bring this weekend."