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The All Blacks have rushed to the defence of captain Richie McCaw after South African claims that test rugby referees are scared to sinbin him because of his status.
Assistant coach Steve Hansen said emotion was clouding the fact that McCaw was the best in the breakdown business while teammates Keven Mealamu and Keith Robinson suggested the Springboks were hypocrites because they were far more culpable when it came to deliberate infringing.
The annual debate over whether openside flanker McCaw is a lawbreaker burst back into prominence after last night's Tri-Nations test, won 33-6 by New Zealand, when stand-in Springboks captain Johann Muller cried foul over the sinbinning of his flanker Pedrie Wannenburg.
It came five minutes after McCaw was penalised but suffered no other sanction for what Muller believed was the same crime in a similar attacking part of the field.
Muller said other openside flankers, such as Springbok Schalk Burger or Australian George Smith, were not given the same leeway by match officials.
"If Richie McCaw was wearing a green jersey and had blond hair (Burger) or a yellow jersey and dreadlocks (Smith), he would never finish a test," he said.
"It's disappointing because you want to play a fair game and you want to have a go at the breakdown but at this stage he's making it really difficult for us."
Springboks coach Jake White said he supported the comments of Muller, adding that Australian referee Stu Dickinson effectively determined the course of the test, which was tied 6-6 when Wannenburg exited in the 52nd minute.
"Had he given New Zealand a yellow card and they played one man short, especially their captain, who knows what would have happened," White said.
"They were feeling the pressure at that stage and you could sense in the crowd that they weren't getting on top of their game."
Hansen today described the Springboks' claims as "nonsense", believing they were frustrated because they could not combat quality No 7s such as McCaw or Smith.
"It's easy to say Richie's getting away with blue murder. But if you remove the emotion out of it, he's very good at making a tackle, getting to his feet, fighting for the ball, particularly when we've won the tackle," he said.
"A lot of the time he's forcing them to come from the side to remove him, so we should be getting the penalty.
"He's that quick, he'll make a tackle and get to his feet. Sometimes it's an optical illusion."
He noted that South African rugby struggled to produce many ball-winning flankers because of their reliance on size and power.
Muller's claims clearly have the goal of influencing referees in future matches, a tactic Hansen hoped would not bear fruit.
"When it comes to the game, we just expect the referee to be strong enough. Sometimes he is, sometimes he isn't."
Hooker Mealamu was stunned to hear of Muller's comments after a test in which the All Blacks struggled to win quick ruck ball.
"It's pretty much throwing stones in a glass house," he said.
"Some of the things they were getting away with, it's not really justified. I personally think he (McCaw) was pretty unlucky to be given some of those penalties with those turnovers."
Lock Robinson said the visitors spent much of the test off their feet at the breakdown and said the challenge was combating it through legal means.
"We'll have to bash them early so they don't lie there. You're not allowed to ruck, you get rid of them as best you can," he said.
"Just physically move them with your shoulders, arms. Physically dominate them early on and clear our ball.
"If you do it properly early in the game, they might think twice about lying on the ball."
- NZPA
