'McCaw is a victim of his own success'
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:53
An unlikely ally: Warren Gatland backs McCaw's breakdown tactics
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw has found an unlikely ally after the openside flank was publicly criticised for his 'illegal' work at the breakdown.
On Tuesday night, Wales coach Warren Gatland poured cold water on claims by former Australia World Cup winning coach Bob Dwyer that the All Black No.7 was a serial offender at rucks.
During an astonishing Kiwi attack before Saturday's Test match with Wales in Cardiff, Dwyer went as far as to claim there was one law for McCaw, and another for his opponents.
Gatland however, was having none of it, insisting Dwyer and others who have questioned the actions of the former IRB player of the year at the breakdown, had got it wrong.
"When you get the world's top players, the criticism they keep getting is because they are often so good," Gatland told the Western Mail.
"Richie is a fantastic player, but he is no different to other players in terms of the criticism All Black No.7s have had."
Dwyer, the mastermind behind the Wallabies lifting the 1991 World Cup, urged the International Rugby Board to clamp down on McCaw and his New Zealand players.
"McCaw gets away with illegality partly because he has taken over the mantle of the No.1 referee in the world from Sean Fitzpatrick; there is an absolutely widespread belief outside New Zealand that this is the case," Dwyer blasted, although he conceded the 27-year-old was "probably" the best player in the world.
But Gatland said McCaw and the world's other leading opensides, who tread a fine line between legality and offending at the breakdown, were victims of their own success.
Former England openside Neil Back, he pointed out, a World Cup winner in 2003, preceded McCaw as the scavenger whose methods were regularly questioned by opposition coaches and critics alike.
"When Back was on top of his game, he got the same sort of criticism," said Gatland.
And, in a thinly-veiled message to the Wales loose fowards in Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones and Andy Powell, Gatland warned his boys about Dwyer's claims.
"It's how you combat that mentality and what he brings to the game," Gatland stressed.
"That's what we have got to cope with."
