McCaw the victim says coach Deans

Richie McCaw

Crusaders coach Robbie Deans has turned the Richie McCaw debate on its head, saying the star flanker is unfairly penalised by referees and is the subject of gamesmanship from Super 14 opponents.

Deans sprung to McCaw's defence again yesterday as debate raged over Hurricanes suggestions he cheated at the breakdown during the Crusaders' 20-11 win on Saturday.

"There are instances where he breaks the law and he gets penalised for it. He gets penalised quite often when he doesn't break the law as well," Deans told Radio Sport.

Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper bemoaned the Crusaders' tactics at the breakdown after the visitors racked up their seventh win from seven.

"The frustration is that the penalty count was 12-4 [against the Crusaders] and the majority of those penalties were from rucks. That's all I'll say," Cooper said.

Chiefs coach Ian Foster claimed the Crusaders resorted to negative tactics at the breakdown during their match last month.

Deans said it was clear from listening to the referee's microphone what was occurring as teams tried to stop McCaw.

"There's an element of gamesmanship to be honest, an element of trying to seek an advantage through perception, putting pressure on referees.

"It's a bit like suggesting Andrew Mehrtens or Grant Fox weren't good goalkickers because they missed more conversions than others.

"The fact is they made more as well, and Richie's that sort of player."

McCaw is Tana Umaga's likely successor as All Blacks captain when the international season kicks off in June.

The Hurricanes became visibly frustrated with McCaw's approach on Saturday.

All Blacks teammates Jerry Collins and Neemia Tialata both clashed with McCaw, Tialata grabbing him by the throat when a maul collapsed. Deans and McCaw later preferred to leave that incident on the field.

At the breakdown McCaw's strength was his big asset, Deans said, and he made it look as if he were pushing the boundaries too far.

"Once he gets his hands on that ball he's entitled to continue playing it. Where others would be removed at that point, he's like a rock and people bounce off him and he stays there.

"The presumption is, because he's still there at the end when the others have been deflected, that he arrived there late and played the ball.

"There is going to be a lot of attention paid to his area of the game because he's a player that poses a big threat to any opposition.

"But I would suggest he gets the harsher end of the stick than others who don't get the same scrutiny."

Deans said the All Blacks selectors would have been heartened by the standard of New Zealand teams after eight rounds.

"It was a remarkable game of rugby. The pace, the skill and the accuracy on defence ... and some fantastic attack.

"They were like two big heavyweights in the second half who had punched themselves to a standstill."

- NZPA