Watson: 'Both NZ and SA scrums illegal'
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:03
Laying down the law: Andre Watson has his say
Respected former South African referee Andre Watson has cast his judgement over both the New Zealand and the All Black scrums after a war of words broke out regarding scrum legality.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers reacted to his team's 8-19 defeat in the opening Tri-Nations Test in Wellington by claiming that the All Blacks were making use of illegal tactics to disrupt the scrum on South Africa's feed.
"It is a mixed bag, but De Villiers' allegations are justified," Watson told iol.co.za.
"The All Blacks are not binding correctly all the time and the referee will also have to look at the straight spine of the scrum to ensure that they are pushing in a forward direction."
However, Watson did not exonerate coach De Villiers completely, stating that the Boks too were guilty of infringing the rules at scrum time.
"The Boks were not 100 percent legal in every scrum either," Watson continued.
"It's really six of one and half a dozen of the other and the door has been opened for both teams to bore in and do their thing.
"And to say that the All Blacks beat us because they were scrumming illegally every time is not true.
"They're illegal on occasion, yes, but we're not squeaky-clean either and until we are we can't really point fingers.
"From a purist's point of view there were binding issues and the referee needs to sort it out.
"Peter and I have spoken about it and he is going to discuss it with [Australian referee] Matt Goddard before Saturday's Test in Dunedin."
The Springbok coach has already been forced into one change in his front row, with influential skipper John Smit already heading back to South Africa for treatment on a groin injury he suffered when he was spear tackled by Brad Thorn during the first Test.
It is expected that De Villiers could make more changes to his front row after their poor showing, with the likes of Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira waiting in the wings.
