By The Crowd
July 23rd 2008 @ 3:20am
Wallaby hits back at All Black slurs: ‘We’re no cheats!’
The Wallabies have brushed off accusations they cheat at scrum time and turned their attention to nullifying All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in Saturday night’s Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney.
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The scrum is again a source of controversy in the lead-up to the first of four trans-Tasman Tests this year after New Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen and former All Blacks prop John Drake today both claimed the Wallabies used illegal tactics at the set piece.
Drake bluntly branded the Wallabies cheats, insisting their pre-engagement routine was illegal during the 16-9 defeat of the world champion Springboks in last Saturday night’s Tri Nations clash in Perth.
“I can’t believe they got away with what they did at scrum time with their technique of entering,” Drake told ABC Radio.
“The biggest thing I probably got out of the Test is the way that they probably cheated at scrum time.
“They pack very high, similar to what the Crusaders and the All Blacks did about three years ago.
“When they say ‘crouch’, they’re still high so the other team has to try and come up to them. It kind of puts them off, and then the Australians just dive straight down. I was pretty annoyed with that.”
Wallabies flanker Rocky Elsom said such accusations were nonsense.
“That’s probably the last thing we want to do because when the scrum gets collapsed, we get penalised first. That doesn’t help us.”
Indeed, the Wallabies scrum has been universally maligned in recent years, with referees tending to blame Australia’s perceived shortfalls for the set piece collapsing rather than suspect weakness from opposing packs.
Hansen less directly claimed Australian halfback Luke Burgess effectively spun the ball into the scrum to deliver quick, easy possession against the Springboks.
He suggested Burgess rolls the ball in so it shoots quickly through Australia’s front and second rows directly to the feet of No.8 Wycliff Palu.
“They’re clever with the way they do things, you’ve only got to look at the way the halfback puts the ball in,” Hansen told journalists in Wellington.
“They’ve adapted their scrum to suit the way they play. They don’t keep the ball in the scrum for a very long time.”
While the cheating accusations swept quickly across the Tasman into the Wallabies camp in Sydney, a more diplomatic Elsom opted against fanning the flames when asked if he believed McCaw flaunted the rules to gain an advantage at the breakdown.
“As for Richie McCaw cheating at the breakdown, if you are getting away with it, it is not cheating,” Elsom said after his back-row adversary was bracketed alongside Daniel Braid in the All Blacks team today.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans will name his 22-man squad tomorrow.
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TembaVJ said | July 23rd 2008 @ 10:27am | Report comment
isnt this the man that called Peter Devilliers a puppet? Looks like the idiot just cant help himself
Jerry said | July 23rd 2008 @ 10:48am | Report comment
That was Craig Dowd.
Jameswm said | July 23rd 2008 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
This is just one of the funniest stories I’ve seen. The ABs complaining about the Aussies cheating.
This from the team with McCaw as captain. The team who perfected the pillar blocking/gridiron style of attack from ruck and mauls.
Classic!
Jerry said | July 23rd 2008 @ 1:53pm | Report comment
James - John Drake is a commentator & journalist, so the only claim coming from the AB’s is that Burgess puts a bit of spin on the ball which seems to be pretty accurate from what I’ve seen. Then again that feeding style is pretty common also.
Also it was the Crusaders who perfected the art of the pillar/guard-dog style of attack - er, now who was coaching them at the time?
Jameswm said | July 23rd 2008 @ 3:07pm | Report comment
OK so it might not have been the ABs themselves complaining.
And that pillar blocking the defenders is common to many teams and levels of NZ rugby. The ABs certainly use it.
Jerry said | July 23rd 2008 @ 6:18pm | Report comment
“pillar blocking the defenders is common to many teams and levels of … rugby”
Fixed that for you.
Jameswm said | July 23rd 2008 @ 6:38pm | Report comment
Hah! Touche!
I’ll have to teach it to my U9s, then! I’ll show them AB footage as an illustration.
Yikes said | July 23rd 2008 @ 10:15pm | Report comment
Well, the Wallabies do “cheat” at scrum time. Their loose head lock double crutch binds. This is illegal. I can’t believe Drake is focussing on the part of the Wallabies scrum that is NOT cheating…!
Sam Taulelei said | July 23rd 2008 @ 11:14pm | Report comment
With both coaches and players being very cagey in their pre match comments it’s up to former players and rent-a-quote commentators to spice up proceedings with some good old fashioned “mine, no yours, no it’s mine, oh ok it’s yours” mind games.
Henry is a master at trying to manipulate the press to his own ends, Deans plays his cards closer to his chest and prefers his players do their talking on the field. I know which approach I prefer.
ohtani's jacket said | July 23rd 2008 @ 11:27pm | Report comment
Sam, what do you make of this McCaw situation? Do you reckon they had any intention to play him? I read somewhere that Deans spent a coaching session on it. Seems like a pretty good ruse.
Sam Taulelei said | July 23rd 2008 @ 11:38pm | Report comment
McCaw has a history of recovering quickly from injuries that other players take more time to. Deans said earlier this week that he wouldn’t be surprised to see McCaw named because he knows how competitive he is and how desperate he would be to play such a big game. I didn’t expect him to play and I don’t believe that Henry expected him to be fit enough either but was willing to take a gamble given his influence. McCaw is one of those rare sportsmen who isn’t prepared to jeopardise his team to satisfy his personal needs and he has ruled himself unfit to play in the past for both the Crusaders and the All Blacks. The most recent example I can think of is the Twickenham test in 2005. I’m happy that Daniel Braid is given another chance at this level and hope that he acquits himself well - he’s more similar in style to Josh Kronfeld than McCaw.
bozo said | July 24th 2008 @ 12:21am | Report comment
Drake complains that Burgess cheats and gets away with it. He must have been misquoted because it was an NZ referee and he normally only bags Australian referees.
Dublin Dave said | July 24th 2008 @ 2:32am | Report comment
Double crutch binding is illegal?
Sounds as if it should be downright sinful, but what law makes it illegal?
And what is “double crutch binding” anyway? I’m not familiar with the term.
Is it a lock putting his hands between two men’s legs instead of just one? OK. So he’s not binding around his second-row partner, but in that case I fail to see what advantage would accrue. Unless of course the second row partner also engages in some “double crutch binding”. So now the poor old hooker, whose legs should be free to swing for the ball, now has not one but two hands, belonging to different men, between his legs!!!!!!!
Sounds like these guys should be playing in the Mark Bingham Trophy.
matta said | July 24th 2008 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Yikes - what the hell are you talking about?
John Drake has no clue…never has never will.
Oh yeah thats a great idea..lets keep out body height high at srum time, that will gives us an advantage..great idea Drakie you muppet..if you knew anything about anything other than chips on shoulders you would know staying high is the worst thing a front rower can do….
really, when is this guy and him fellow NZ callers going to understand anything about the game.
matta said | July 24th 2008 @ 8:30am | Report comment
oh - double crutch binding.. I think he means that the flakers and locks were binding through the loose heads legs …rather than the flanker onto the lock back who is through the looseheads legs…
yes this in illegal but I never saw it…proof yikes?
Yikes said | July 24th 2008 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Have a look at the photo here:
http://www.foxsports.com.au/common/imagedata/0,5001,6160091,00.jpg
Other than front row players, all other players must be bound to a second-row player. The Wallabies’ loose head side second-rower does not bind onto his fellow second-rower with his right arm, but crutch-binds on the hooker. This is illegal. It does give an advantage because it allows for more pressure to be concentrated toward the tight-head side. The Crusaders and Waratahs did this noticeably throughout the S14.
I will add that Burgess does indeed feed the ball illegally (as do many halfbacks!) by holding the ball vertically rather than horizontally, and spinning the ball on the feed. Valentine and Sheehan both did this throughout the S14 for the Waratahs and they weren’t the only team.
But you do whatever you can get away with, and the refs seem to not concentrate on these issues, probably they are happy to get the ball in and out if this prevents a collapse!!
Dublin Dave said | July 24th 2008 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Yikes. One lives and learns!
Speaking as an ex hooker, if any second row I ever played with tried to put his hands there I wouldn’t have been best pleased. Mind you, the Australians in that picture are clearly going for an eight man shove with the hooker making no attempt to strike for the ball. Unless he doesn’t mind swinging his leg across while a big hairy hand is positioned astride his jewelry. In which case his bollox must be tougher than a jockey’s!!
I still think you would get a very lopsided scrum with that techniqute though. The loose head lock can get a massive shove on driving with both shoulders on both the loose head prop and the hooker. But what about the tight head lock. Can’t see his left hand anywhere so he must be binding around his lock without the favour being returned.
I can see why it’s illegal, but I just don’t get the reason why anybody would do it.
Jerry said | July 24th 2008 @ 11:14am | Report comment
Dave - you’d only do it on the oppositions feed to splinter and disrupt the scrum.