Springbok legend John Smit makes huge All Blacks accusation ahead of third Test
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Accusation.
Former Springbok captain John Smit has accused the All Blacks of dropping six scrums during their 33-26 defeat to South Africa in Cape Town.
The scrum has become one of the major talking points ahead of Saturday’s third Test at FNB Stadium following a fiery war of words between Dave Rennie and Rassie Erasmus.
Rennie claimed that the Springboks had been “walking around” at scrum time, an accusation which prompted an explosive response from Erasmus.
Smit has now weighed in on the debate and believes New Zealand used their own tactics to reduce the impact of South Africa’s powerful scrum.
Speaking on the I Love Rugby podcast, the 2007 World Cup-winning captain claimed the All Blacks repeatedly took the scrum to ground when under pressure.
“But the reality is they dropped six scrums, got away with it in terms of resets, and so that sort of takes away, it sort of depowers the opposition scrum,” Smit said via Planet Rugby.
The Springbok legend believes New Zealand improved significantly at scrum time after being put under huge pressure during their victory at Ellis Park in the opening Test.
However, Smit suggested Rennie’s subsequent criticism of the Springboks was a deliberate attempt to move attention away from how the All Blacks had dealt with that threat in Cape Town.
“I certainly didn’t see it on Saturday, but it was just a ploy and a clever one from Rennie to be able to deflect some of the things that they did on the weekend to depower the Springboks scrum.”
Smit also explained that “walking around” is a legitimate scrum tactic in certain circumstances but insisted he did not see the Springboks employing it during the second Test.
The scrum battle will now be under enormous scrutiny when the two sides meet again in Soweto on Saturday.
With the series level at 1-1, Smit believes the third Test is effectively the series decider on South African soil before both teams travel to Baltimore for the final encounter.
