All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has rubbished suggestions from the Australian Rugby Union that the discovery of the listening device in his team's Sydney hotel last year was deliberately leaked to add pressure to the Wallabies.
ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said the breaking of the Spygate scandal by the Herald on the day of last August's opening Bledisloe Cup test, won in record style by the All Blacks 42-8, left a "bitter taste".
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has also criticised the All Blacks' timing, suggesting it was a ploy.
But in an interview with Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch to be aired at midday today, Hansen refutes the allegations, saying Pulver's claim the announcement of the discovery was timed to damage the Wallabies was "rubbish".
Cheika's Wallabies had gone into the test having lost the Rugby World Cup final to the All Blacks the year before, plus a three-test series against a touring England in June.