Bay of Plenty flanker Nili Latu has admitted cheating against the Lions to give the other New Zealand teams a hint how to upset the tourists.
Livewire No 7 Latu, one of the stars of a gallant Bay of Plenty team who lost 34-20 after battling back from 0-17 to
17-all in the first half, said their plan was simple.
"We talked of niggling their main players and if we can get them off their game we've got a good chance of disrupting their ball," Latu said.
He used his brief bout of fisticuffs with opposite Martyn Williams on halftime as an example.
"I told Bourkey [No 8 Colin Bourke] to have a go and pull his jersey back and he [Williams] turned around and belted me," Latu said.
"But that's part of the game, you've got to cheat."
Referee Paul Honiss obliged Latu after the stoush and penalised Williams, one of a flurry of first-half penalties dished out against the tourists.
As the Bay turned up the heat on the Lions, in the wake of No 8 Lawrence Dallaglio being stretchered off with a fractured ankle, Latu said the tourists became rattled.
"They were complaining because we were getting in there and doing little things," Latu said.
"They were playing to a map, and I said to the boys if we can disrupt their gameplan we've got a good chance of giving them a good go.
"[Williams] was player of the Six Nations and I knew it would be a big task to step up to his class. To get into the game we had to niggle them.
"They blew us away in the first 15 minutes, but big ups to the boys, we came back and stuck at it. We were in the game until the last 10."
- NZPA
