Boks scrum a STECO Power Play of brutal beauty

Keo & Zels were as emphatic as the Boks scrum against Ireland that the STECO Power Play was every time the Boks packed down to scrum Ireland into the Aviva turf in Dublin.

STECO is all about power, precision, sustainability and quality, and Keo & Zels, on their Rugby Podcast, said every member of the Boks pack combined to make the collective that much more powerful than any individual effort.

They acknowledge the individual try-scoring genius of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the individual merits of Cobus Reinach, the relentlessness of Canan Moodie and the power of Damian de Allende.

But when it came to their weeks Springboks STECO Test moment, it was the Boks scrum that won the day, with the Boks feeding the scrum in 12 of the 16 scrums, and winning eight penalties on the 12 put ins. There were also more scrums on resets.

Ireland lost two players to yellow cards because of repeated scrum infringements and conceded a penalty try just before halftime to trail 19-7.

WORLD MEDIA REACTS TO POWER OF THE BOKS SCRUM

The general consensus, post the match, was that Ireland should have lost more players to the sin-bin for deliberate professional fouls at scrum time.

The Boks won 24-13; their first win at the Aviva Stadium during Rassie Erasmus’s eight years at the helm of the Springboks. It was also only the second time the Boks had played at the Aviva Stadium since Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber took charge of the Boks in 2018.

Ireland, who beat the Boks 13-8 in Pool Play at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Paris, France, also beat the Boks 25-24 in Durban in 2024, a week after losing 27-20 to the hosts in Pretoria in the opening Test of the July internationals.

IRISH LOCK GETS SLAP ON WRIST FOR RED CARD OFFENCE

STECO IS GIVING YOU BACK YOUR POWER

The Powerful Bok scrum earns this week’s @STECO_Global #PowerPlay award! pic.twitter.com/5Cbpy9tHJt

SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) November 25, 2025