‘South Africa exploited the laws’ – Matt Williams calls for law changes again
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Not impressed.
Matt Williams is once again in the spotlight for comments made about South Africa, following their big win over Ireland at the weekend.
Williams has been hugely critical of South Africa over the years, calling for a change to the laws to stop them from loading their bench with forwards and unleashing the now infamous ‘Bomb squad.’
The Australian claims that the Springboks exploited the current laws to the best of their ability, be it at scrum, breakdown, or the replacements bench.
He claims that even World Rugby are frustrated and says we are going to keep getting “boring and frustrating” games like Saturday until something is done, starting with depowering the scrum.
“They exploited the laws. It’s really smart, I’m not criticising, but it was completely to their advantage,” Williams said on Off The Ball.
“They took the laws, and they used them brilliantly, be it at the scrum, the breakdown – what they did, they were quite superb.
“I feel sorry for referee Carley in many ways, but if you go to the lawbook… the scrum is there to restart play, that’s what it says in the lawbook, it was never meant to dominate the game.
“When I played, and when I started coaching, it wasn’t a penalty to be pushed off the ball. It shouldn’t be a penalty when you’re pushed off the ball; that’s the contest.
“South Africa are the best in the world at that incentive; they get the long arm penalty. When I was playing, it was a short arm [free kick].
“If you have a five-metre scrum, you go for a pushover try, no problem at all, that’s a great skill, but that was just horrible. All those people that came to watch that game and on TV, it was a disaster.
“I was talking to someone from World Rugby and the people within World Rugby are frustrated. It is not the hard-working staff at World Rugby, who are so wonderful and put in so much time and effort, it is the politicians at the top that stymie the change,” he added.
“It’s not the board, they’re trying to get change… but there is no way the big countries are up for the change. Until we do, we’re going to get games like that. It makes it very boring and frustrating to watch.”
But not everyone agreed with Williams. Former Ireland international hooker Bernard Jackman took to X and slammed his fellow pundit.
“Some of the reactionary punditry to the Springboks’ awesome display of forward power Saturday is hard to take seriously,” Jackman wrote.
“I would hate to see the scrum depowered, and the Irish players and coaches will be the same.
“Just because one team is brilliant in one area, why would you dumb it down rather than everyone strive to get better?”
Former World Referee of the Year, Nigel Owens, also took to X to shut down Matt Williams.
“Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes,” Owens wrote.
“Depower the scrum anymore and you may as well watch a rugby league match.
“It will destroy the community game if there is no place for your good old fashioned type of prop.
“Keep meddling with the game and you will destroy it.
