Nick Mallett: Springboks Legend Accuses All Blacks of Cheating Ahead of Third Test This Weekend
- Former Springboks coach Nick Mallett raised serious concerns about the All Blacks' conduct at scrum time during the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series
- Mallett claimed New Zealand's front row deliberately collapsed scrums to avoid conceding penalties against the dominant Bok pack
- Australian referee Angus Gardner's handling of the Cape Town Test scrums drew sharp criticism from Mallett on the Talking Boks podcast
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Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has accused the All Blacks of deliberately bringing scrums to ground to neutralise South Africa's dominance up front, describing the tactic as a form of cheating ahead of the third and deciding Test on Saturday.
Mallett made the remarks on the Talking Boks podcast after the Springboks won the second Test in Cape Town to level the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series at 1-1. Despite controlling the scrum throughout, the Boks were not consistently rewarded with penalties, and Australian referee Angus Gardner drew particular criticism for his management of that contest area.
**All Blacks Collapsing Scrums on Purpose, Says Mallett**
Mallett argued that when New Zealand's front row found itself being driven backwards, it chose to take the scrum to the ground rather than face the consequences.
"What they do now is they don't want to stay up because if they collapse, they force the referee to decide between one or the other side. So you have a 50% chance of getting it right, of actually getting a penalty," he said.
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"So, in fact, they are basically cheating to stop themselves from giving a penalty away."
Mallett was unsparing in his assessment of Gardner's performance, stating that six scrums went down before a single penalty was awarded in the 35th minute. "That's inexcusable," he said. "You're not refereeing the laws of rugby correctly, and you're turning it into, basically, a joke because the side that puts the ball in just collapses the scrum."
**Springbok Front Row "Unmatchable", Mallett Insists**
Beyond the officiating debate, Mallett made a strong case for the quality of South Africa's front row trio of Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché and Wilco Louw, calling them unrivalled in world rugby.
"When we get Wilco, Ox and Marx in the front row, I challenge any front row in the world to match those guys. They can't. No one can match those guys," he said.
He also dismissed the All Blacks coach Dave Rennie's suggestion, raised after the first Test at Ellis Park, that the Boks were walking around at scrum time. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus and scrum coach Daan Human both refuted that claim earlier in the week.
Mallett pointed to South Africa's dominant scrum performances against Ireland, France and England as evidence that the penalties the Boks earn are a product of superior technique, not illegal positioning.
"We smashed Ireland in the front row. No one accused us of walking around in any of those games. We just got penalty after penalty because those are the laws," he said.
With the series decider approaching, Mallett expressed hope that referees would penalise scrums accurately. "This Saturday, we're going to come as hard as we can in the scrums and hopefully we're going to get better reward for our dominance in that area of the game."
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Source: Briefly News
