Crusaders: SANZAR the only judge

The Crusaders hit back at their critics this week, in the wake of accusations that their scrum dominance is based on illegal tactics.

Crusaders assistant coach Tabai Matson, speaking in a teleconference call from Pretoria where they will play the Bulls on Saturday, said the only judge of their scrumming techniques is SANZAR – the controlling boy for Super Rugby.

Record-breaking Test referee Jonathan Kaplan, now retired and writing a weekly blog on his own website, was  at the heart of the public attack on the Crusaders.

However, they also copped a lot of criticism from their compoatriots – with former All Black coach John Mitchell, retired All Black prop Kees Meeuws and retired All Black scrumhalf Justin Marshall also taking pot-shots at Crockett.

The big All Black prop, Crockett, has been a destructive force this season – especially in the game against the Lions and Cheetahs in Christchurch – where Lions tighthead prop Julian Redelinghuys and Cheetahs tighthead prop Coenie Oosthuizen were yellow-carded for repeated scrum penalties.

While complaints about Crockett's scrummaging are nothing new, the latest verbal attacks seems to have increased in intensity and volume – as critics of ath tall for a loosehead (193 centimetres) accuse him of illegally scrumming in and upwards to shear the opposing tighthead away from the rest of his front row.

Mitchell, who now lives in South Africa and is an expert analyst on a local pay-television station, went as far as to suggest the Bulls to speak to match referee Angus Gardner about the Crusaders "illegal scrummaging technique" ahead of Saturday's showdown at Loftus Versfeld.

Despite all the critcism, Matson stood his ground in the media briefing – saying they will abide by what SANZAR deems legal or illegal.

"It is Round Seven of Super Rugby and I'm sure we would have heard something from SANZAR by now if something illegal was going on," the Crusaders assistant coach said in the teleconference call.

He also dismissed the notion that the decision to drop Crockett to the bench was based on the fall-out from the criticism of the prop.

"No, it was not [a reaction to the criticism]," he said, adding: "Again, it is Round Seven and he has had a great workload and it is a chance to give Joe Moody and opportunity."

Matson said, like forwards coach Dave Hewitt, he is "disappointed" with Kaplan's outspoke views.

"You know, it's just an opinion piece," Matson said, adding: "One of the key things is he [Kaplan] is a very experienced referee and he has a lot of influence. It's disappointing in that regard."

Matson then reiterated his earlier statement about SANZAR being the only real judge: "It is Round Seven of Super Rugby and if there was an issue SANZAR would have had communications with Dave [Hewitt] around the scrum and we have had none."

He said they are not going to change their approach for the Bulls match this week.

"We are scrummaging well and will continue to focus on what we are doing," Matson said, adding that they are not concerned the media hype will result in match referee Angus Gardner will focus on the Crusaders too much.

"He's a good referee and he would have done his homework. He would have worked with the SANZAR scrummaging coach and while there might be a bit more focus, I'm sure he'll follow the same line ."

Despite all the denials, there is no doubt Kaplan's comments have rattled a few cages.

"People this week [are] moaning about what was said last week, actually what I have been saying for some time," the retired referee said in his weekly blog.

"Their scrum, however powerful, is not always legal. Crockett's angles at scrum time have forced two of our tightheads to get yellow cards and essentially rendered the contest over," Kaplan said, adding: "I do not agree with those decisions, when the player is doing his best under the most testing of environments.

"I'm not the only one. There are many senior referees who have expressed concerns over these yellow cards.

"As did, the very knowledgeable and admirable Justin Marshall. Time and again, they made comments on the fact that the Crusaders scrum on the loosehead side was not square and parallel to the touchlines.

"When is something going to be done about it? I'm not sure. I've been talking about it for at least five years now, and my sense is that there is either a lack of will, or confusion as to how to address this. Enough said."

By Jan de Koning

@King365ed

@rugby365com