Springbok forwards coach Matt Proudfoot says there are still areas of their set piece that needs tweaking when they face Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday.

The Springboks endured some lineout struggles in their tour opener against England, which they went on to lose 12-11, with Malcolm Marx battling to find his jumpers.

However, with the return of regular No 5 lock Franco Mostert against France, the lineouts were much-improved as Marx and importantly replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi were able to hit their targets.

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Chatting to the media in Edinburgh, Proudfoot said he is still not fully satisfied with how their set piece has performed as the Boks look to pick up some momentum.

‘We were a little inaccurate against England,’ Proudfoot admitted. ‘I thought the lineout was pretty good against France, back to our normal level. I would like to see us be a little bit more forceful at scrum time if we can be.

‘I was a bit concerned at the back end of the France game that the scrum got a bit loose. We are looking to increase the experience of our bench so they have the same experience that the starting guys have.

‘In the north, your set phase gets put under pressure. It is a great opportunity to learn and test ourselves against a quality outfit. The Scots are very sharp and their contesting of the lineout is very good. Both platforms will be tested on Saturday.’

Proudfoot said he fully expects Scotland to be one of the major threats at next year’s World Cup in Japan.

‘They are a top nation. The two of us are only separated by a couple of points on the world rankings. They have the opportunity to build up toward the Six Nations. All the northern hemisphere teams are going to come with a lot of momentum. 

‘I think their strengths lie in the alignment of their franchises and their utilisation of their resources. They are so smart about the way they do it, very similar to Ireland, and you can see where Ireland are in the world now [No 2]. They have a stable management team now and I think they are going to be phenomenal. 

‘The teams that are successful are the teams that don’t pick up injuries going into the World Cup. We are well aware of the difficult nature of Saturday’s game and they are going to be there or thereabouts in the World Cup. 

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‘It is a year away so we can’t think about that. Rassie [Erasmus] has his plans for his group on that. We just want to build some momentum through these games. They are very important to us in the sense of where this group is.

‘The southern hemisphere competition is a little bit sterile, so we have the ability to come up north and grow our game a little bit. Away from home a team grows, we are in a hotel together and you grow as a unit. This has been good for us, and when you are winning you create momentum.’

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