All Blacks and Crusaders prop Joe Moody hits back at Wayne Smith’s criticisms of rolling mauls

All Blacks and Crusaders prop Joe Moody. Photo / Photosport

All Blacks and Crusaders prop Joe Moody says he completely disagrees with Wayne Smith over the future of the rolling maul.

Smith had some strong words about the state of men’s rugby last week, saying he was “frustrated” with the game and essentially called for lineout drives from penalties to be abolished.

When asked about Smith’s comments, Moody wasn’t having any of it.

“Shit, what a ridiculous [thing to] say,” he said ahead of the Crusaders’ big derby clash against the Blues this week.

“Nah, the bloody lineout maul is great. A great part of the game. It’s a good challenge to lay down a yardstick for your forward pack.

“Nah, it’s awesome. I’d hate to see that get thrown out or reduced in some form. I reckon you’ve got to keep it in there.”

Smith made headlines when he said he turned off the Highlanders-Force clash last month to watch a nature documentary.

Among his criticisms of the modern game was the overuse of the lineout drive, which he says doesn’t make for an entertaining product.

“If, like me, you don’t like the constant mauls, I reckon one thing that will fix it is if you get the penalty and you kick to touch, the other team gets the throw-in,” the former All Blacks and Black Ferns coach said.

“That would stop all these incessant kicks down to the corner and driving mauls and mauls that fall over.”

Former All Blacks and Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Michael Cunningham

But Moody, one of the biggest proponents of rugby’s dark arts over the years, was never going to agree with Smith’s view.

“Smithy’s a good man,” Moody said. “He’s got a lot of interesting views and everything, but I just can’t say I’d align with this one with him.”

Crusaders forwards coach Dan Perrin agreed with Moody.

“If they’re kicking to touch and not getting the ball back, I guess they’re taking penalty shots at goal,” Perrin said.

“You take one thing away and you’ll just find something else to complain about, I guess. So, there wouldn’t be as many tries, teams would be kicking goals. That’s not exciting for fans.

“As a rugby purist, the maul has been in the game for a long time, so I’d like to see it stay there.”

The Crusaders will be preparing for more rolling maul battles against the Blues this weekend.

“The boys love Blues week, the origin games against the other Kiwis are the ones we look forward to. It’s been on the calendar for the last couple of weeks, since that Chiefs game we’ve been looking forward to this,” Perrin said.