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The Wallabies have rejected claims from Springboks coach Peter de Villiers that the Australian scrum attempts to milk penalties at the set piece.
Firing the first psychological shot ahead of Saturday’s Tri Nations clash in Cape Town, de Villiers accused the Wallabies of deliberately collapsing scrums out of sheer desperation.
“They will go to ground if they want to and will bring that negativity in,” de Villiers said.
“They know that they are busy losing, but they will try to milk a penalty from the other side. So we will have to see how we match up to them.”
De Villiers’ inflammatory remarks were no doubt intended to attract the attention of Irish referee Allain Roland, who will control the Newlands Test.
But Wallabies lock Nathan Sharpe said it made no sense for the Wallabies to bring down the scrum, especially after prop Al Baxter was so heavily penalised by South African referee Craig Joubert for collapsing the set piece during New Zealand’s series-opening 22-16 win over Australia last month.
“I don’t think any team in the world would go out with those type of tactics because it is just too hit and miss. The referee can see it anyway they want,” Sharpe said on Tuesday.
With Springboks five-eighth Morne Steyn in deadly goalkicking form, Sharpe said it would be foolish of the Wallabies to try to test the referee out.
“Discipline against these guys is paramount,” he said.
“Certainly giving away penalties as we did in Auckland is not going to help anyone’s cause. That’s an area we have addressed.
“(Steyn) doesn’t miss too many, does he?”
De Villiers has named an unchanged starting XV to tackle the Wallabies, resisting the temptation to recall his pet five-eighth Ruan Pienaar following his recovery from an ankle injury and sticking with Steyn, who scored all of South Africa’s points in last Saturday’s 31-19 victory over the All Blacks in Durban.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.