'We never look for shortcuts': Bok star's subtle dig at Wallabies

SPOTLIGHT: Springbok prop Steven Kitshoff says his team will never look for ‘shortcuts’ when they are trying to get the better of an opponent.

It was a thinly disguised dig at the Wallabies’ under-handed tactics.

Australia’s gamesmanship came under the spotlight after their 25-17 win over the South Africa in Adelaide at the weekend.

The main talking point has been Nic White’s melodramatic acting – when his opposite number, Francois de Klerk, clipped him on the moustache.

De Klerk was controversially yellow-carded for that incident.

When asked about the Wallabies’ gamesmanship, Kitshoff was artful in his response

“How can I say this the right way? We want to play the game inside the law book, with as much aggression, power, and speed as possible,” said Kitshoff.

“We never look for shortcuts in any way.

“When games are played, you are trying to get the upper hand as much as possible.

“It all comes down to the referee’s interpretation and the way the ARs [assistant referees] are seeing the game.

“I don’t want to comment on them getting away with certain tricks or tactics.

“We just want to play a great Test match.”

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Discipline

Springbok assistant coach Deon Davids also didn’t want to comment directly on the De Klerk incident.

“I would not like to elaborate on the referee’s decision or what happened there,” said Davids.

“I think our team will just have to learn to get past those situations.

“We are quite happy with our team’s discipline at this stage.

“I think in terms of penalties conceded before this game, we were actually one of the teams that conceded the least.

“We never try and do things with intent, but we moved on from that incident and learned a lot from it and we are looking forward to the next challenge.”

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