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New Zealand beat South Africa 33-26 in the second Test in Cape Town to level the four-match series at 1-1, sparking a heated exchange between coaches over scrum conduct and refereeing decisions ahead of the Johannesburg decider.
New Zealand edged a tense second Test in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in Cape Town on Saturday with a 33-26 victory that leaves the four-match series level at 1-1.
The third Test will be played in Johannesburg next Saturday, with both sides then travelling to Baltimore in the United States for the final Test on September 12th. The result sets up a finely balanced contest heading into the back half of the series, with momentum now shifting away from the Springboks after they had dominated large portions of the opening Test. After the match, attention quickly turned to the scrums and the conduct of both forward packs.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson shared his thoughts on the set-piece battle, suggesting it was still a bit of an issue with the Springboks walking around in the engagement, and adding that his side would share their concerns with World Rugby. The New Zealand camp believes South Africa have been manipulating the scrum in subtle ways and wants the governing body to review the tape before the next fixture.
Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus fired back in characteristically outspoken fashion, defending his pack and accusing New Zealand of selective criticism. We’ve been playing as a pack with these guys together and it’s the first time in history that people are talking about us walking around, Erasmus said. The first six scrums for New Zealand, every single one collapsed, and it was just reset, reset, reset, reset. So why is it only on their ball that the scrum collapses?
He went on to dismiss the complaints as nonsense spread through the media and pointed to other refereeing decisions his side had left unchallenged. Erasmus also referenced incidents involving clear head contact during the match, suggesting that officials had failed to act on four such occasions in the first forty minutes.
He argued that if both teams were going to start publicly scrutinising marginal calls, New Zealand would quickly find themselves under pressure, given the number of incidents the Springboks had chosen not to highlight. The Springboks had dominated the scrums in the opening Test, but in Cape Town the New Zealand forward pack largely held their own, which has clearly changed the tone of the discussion heading into Johannesburg
New Zealand South Africa Springboks All Blacks Rassie Erasmus
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