Henry calm as Boks take 'cheating' claims to IRB

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE and JIM KAYES - Fairfax Media | Wednesday, 09 July 2008

The Springboks have intensified their attack on the All Blacks' scrum, taking their claims of illegal tactics to IRB referees boss Paddy O'Brien. But New Zealand coach Graham Henry has kept cool ahead of Saturday night's Tri-Nations rematch in Dunedin.

The South Africans will meet with O'Brien in Wellington on Wednesday although they mightn't get too far there with their suggestions that All Blacks loosehead Tony Woodcock is up to mischief at scrum time.

O'Brien told TV One News that he would listen to the South African concerns but he had viewed the game and "I didn't see anything illegal".

However, he added that if there was legitimacy to the Boks' claims he would "address it with the referee for Saturday and pass the information on to the New Zealand camp because it's all about fairness."

Under new rulings initiated by O'Brien, teams don't get to discuss issues with the match referee in the buildup to tests.

But this is taking things to another level with O'Brien himself involved.

Australian Matt Goddard, who has limited test experience but has been controlling Super 14 matches since 2002, has the whistle for Saturday night's showdown at Carisbrook which promises to have plenty of feeling about it.

Henry has tinkered with his front row for this weekend. But Woodcock stays with the change coming on the other side with John Afoa replacing Greg Somerville at tighthead.

It is a selection that speaks volumes for how the All Blacks don't rate the once-mighty Springboks scrum and the confidence they have in their own set piece.

"We pride ourselves on our scrum, we work very hard on it and that's all I'd like to say, really," Henry said when pressed on Springboks coach Peter De Villiers' claims that Woodcock was allowed to cheat last week.

De Villiers said the All Blacks won the scrum battle because Woodcock stepped out and around the Springboks tighthead, giving him a better angle of attack.

That's illegal, and de Villiers claimed the All Blacks were penalised 21 times in the three tests against Ireland and England for the tactic. All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen said that figure was wrong, but didn't volunteer one of his own.

"Each week we hear people complaining about our scrum," he said. "We've got a good scrum, we want to scrum and we look forward to scrummaging on Saturday."

The Boks are clearly feeling the heat as they try to live up to their world champion tag in New Zealand where they have not won for 10 years and in Dunedin where they have never tasted victory.

The heat is clearly on de Villiers whose front row selections for the Tri-Nations were questioned even before the Boks headed to New Zealand.

Critics in the republic said the axing of top tighthead prop BJ Botha left the Springboks vulnerable to the All Blacks at scrum time and it looks like it is panning out that way.

Former All Blacks Murray Mexted, now a Sky TV commentator who was at the match in Wellington, and prop Steve McDowell backed the All Blacks scrum and the methods of Woodcock.

The latest developments reflect the traditional intensity that exists when rugby's greatest rivals meet.

It's been a testy week with Henry questioning the Springboks' off-the-ball tactics in New Zealand's 19-8 win over South Africa in Wellington last weekend.

In a hugely physical match the Boks brought their usual aggressive approach to their defensive work.

Not that the All Blacks were angels with lock Brad Thorn banned for one week for "unsporting behaviour" after he dumped Springboks captain John Smit in a tackle the visitors claim led to a groin injury that has now forced their skipper out of the next two matches.

The Boks were unhappy after the match that Australian referee Stuart Dickinson hadn't dealt with the matter better at the time and the then felt the subsequent one-week ban on Thorn was light.

Dickinson has since admitted he should have sin-binned Thorn at the time but said he didn't get a decent view of the controversial incident, nor did his touch judges.

Now we wait to see what the next level of referees have to say about the scrum claims.