Matfield says Gardner was urged to scrutinise Springboks scrums

The scrum dispute from the Greatest Rivalry series has continued after former Springbok captain Victor Matfield claimed referee Angus Gardner was told to pay particular attention to South Africa’s set-piece work before the second Test in Cape Town.

South Africa defeated the All Blacks 33-26 at Cape Town Stadium to level the series at 1-1, but the match was preceded by debate over whether the Springboks were illegally moving around at scrum time.

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie had raised the issue before the Test, saying he believed South Africa were not scrumming legally. Gardner repeatedly instructed the front rows to set themselves correctly during the match, with the Springboks appearing to attract much of his attention.

Rennie referred to the matter again during his post-match news conference. Asked about the allegation immediately afterwards, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus rejected it, saying the criticism was not true.

Former South Africa coach Nick Mallett and Matfield both believe Rennie’s comments, along with his claim that he had discussed the issue with World Rugby, affected the way the Cape Town Test was officiated.

Speaking on SuperSport’s Side Entry, Mallett backed Erasmus and argued that South Africa’s front row were operating within the laws.

“He’s 100% correct,” Mallett said.

“No one’s ever talked to us about our loose head walking around. That’s never, ever been a problem.

“Ox Nche has always gone straight through the tighthead. And the guy has to go somewhere. The tighthead either collapses, or he goes backwards, and if he goes backwards, Ox goes forwards; he’s got to follow the tighthead.

“He starts always straight. And Victor showed a very good picture last Sunday [from the first Test] of Wilco Louw, dead straight. And before the ball was put in, the all-black loosehead was at an angle before the was put in. That’s illegal.

“I don’t agree with the fact, and I’m 100% with Rassie in this. We dominate every team at scrum time because we’ve got a better front row,” Mallett added.

South Africa’s dominance at scrum time was central to the discussion, with the debate continuing despite the Springboks having been out-carried and out-passed in the second Test.

Matfield said he was convinced Gardner had received a specific warning about South Africa’s technique during the week before the match.

“There was definitely communication to the ref in the week, talking to him. (1:57) Say, listen, look at the Springboks. That’s what they do,” he said.

“There’s no one scrumming more straight than Ox Nche.”

The controversy was not revisited during the All Blacks’ next media session. Rennie was not made available for Monday’s news conference, with attack coach Mike Blair speaking instead.

Blair was asked about Erasmus changing his front row one hour before kick-off in Cape Town. He acknowledged that the All Blacks had taken note of the move, but said they would not devote excessive preparation to a particular individual because South Africa could alter their selection until the last moment.

“I mean, you take notice of it, but you take it with a pinch of salt as well,” Blair said.

“Listening to what he said after the second Test about how he changed the team around dependent on the weather, it shows that they’ve got the capability of doing that. So, you know, it gives us a little bit of an idea potentially of what they might be thinking.

But we’re not going to spend huge amounts of time planning for a certain individual in a certain position when we’re pretty aware that that can change right up until kick-off,” Blair added.

The focus will now move to Saturday’s third Test at the Calabash, where further exchanges between the two camps are expected during the build-up.

Kick-off is at 17:10.