Boks clever on the front foot

The statistic that was consuming the nation before last night's game in Sydney was five All Black tries in the last five Tri Nations games. Yet the one that seemed more pertinent was the zero penalties for offside infringements against South Africa in Cape Town.

Smart cookies will see the possibility of the two stats being related - the former virtually a direct result of the latter.

The South Africans, and to a lesser extent the Wallabies, have worked out that referees will give the benefit of the doubt to the defending team. Penalties for being in front of the back foot will only be called if the referee is categorical the defending team was offside.

Thousands of New Zealanders would've been adamant last Sunday morning that the South Africans were consistently, quite definitely offside.

But Steve Walsh, who refereed the second Mandela test between South Africa and Australia last month, believes that the Boks are only occasionally guilty of breaching the law and are just very adept at getting off the line quickly.

"I didn't see the hind foot as a problem when I was touch judge. There are probably occasions when they are offside but most of the time they are onside and are just very good at judging when to get off the line. You have to remember how quick some of these guys are now.

"The last thing that you want to do as a referee is give a penalty when you are not so sure. You have to be adamant someone is offside."

So what the Boks have been allowed to do by officials is become the masters at pushing the limits. They don't necessarily flagrantly breach the rules, rather they steal inches and split seconds. It puts doubt in the referee's mind, making them reluctant to penalise a team that is trying to exert maximum pressure through its rush defence.

And it is not just the Boks who are pushing the boundaries. A memo had to be circulated to all referees after the early rounds of this year's Super 12, asking them to be more vigilant about keeping defensive lines onside.

That memo seemed to have little impact, suggesting referees don't see the whole issue as a high priority.

Colin Hawke, who is due to start work as the New Zealand Rugby Union's high performance referee manager, agrees that policing of the offside line has perhaps become a little slack in recent seasons.

It has not quite gone the way of the scrum feed but there is no doubt that defending teams are now able to set their line half a metre offside without fear of recrimination.

"I agree with the premise that too many teams are pushing the offside line and it is stifling creativity," said Hawke.

"Referees have to put a lot more heat on teams. It's a tough business and you've got to be hard-nosed to succeed. We have got a lot of nice young fellas out there refereeing but it's not an environment where you can always be nice. You have got to be firm and fair.

"Defenders are tending to stand with one foot in front and one foot behind the offside line, so the referee needs assistance. It becomes a matter of timing, linking what he is looking at to what is happening with the ball. I think teams are aware of this and use it as a ploy.

"The thing is to clearly catch someone doing something that has an impact on the game and not be picky. The big ticket items are not negotiable and the offside line is a big ticket item. It is really a team approach and with the modern coms the referee would certainly rely on the tough judges to pick up any trends on the back foot."

Theories will abound why the All Blacks had only scored five tries in their last five Tri Nations games prior to last night's match in Sydney. That statistic is in stark contrast with the 12 tries the All Blacks racked up against the Lions.

Clearly the Tri Nations has pitched the All Blacks against more fearsome opponents.

But what can't be overlooked is the fact that however hopeless the Lions were, they did at least observe the back foot and play the three tests onside.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY