The Tongan Rugby Union Star’s Respect for South African Scrummaging Prowess

Tonga and Bordeaux-Bègles tighthead Ben Tameifuna has a deep appreciation for the scrummaging abilities of South African props, having faced them throughout his illustrious rugby career.

Tameifuna, who has played in Super Rugby, the Top 14, and on the international stage, has encountered his fair share of formidable South African front-rowers. When asked about the best scrummagers he has faced, the 145kg prop singled out a Sharks trio comprising Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, and Jannie du Plessis as particularly imposing.

“Obviously the South Africans, scrumming is in their DNA,” Tameifuna said on the Le French Rugby Podcast. “I remember my first year at the Chiefs, we played the Sharks in the Super 15 final and the front row was Beast and the du Plessis brothers. The year before that I was in the pub watching a World Cup, to be a year later scrumming against the South Africa front row in the Super 15 final was pretty massive.”

The Tongan international acknowledged the Springboks’ prowess at the set-piece, recalling their dominant scrum performance in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarter-final. “They’ve been one of the best scrums in the world,” he said.

While Tameifuna holds South African props in the highest regard, he also singled out Ireland and Leinster tighthead Tadhg Furlong as a player who has redefined the modern expectations of the position. “Props that are still scrumming in the 60th minute as if they’re in the first minute. Those are the players who have taken what a normal prop should look like then to what it should look like now,” he said.

As a seasoned rugby union veteran, Tameifuna’s insights into the world-class scrummaging abilities of South African props and the evolving standards of the tighthead position provide valuable perspective for rugby enthusiasts.

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