Springboks rugby coach Jake White does not share Australia’s complaint that the All Blacks are overly aggressive but he is surprised at the lenient response to recent incidents.
Wallabies hooker Brendan Cannon was banned for two weeks for punching All Blacks rake Keven Mealamu in the face in last Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup Test in Wellington.
Australian coach Eddie Jones complained that no All Blacks players were cited after the brawl.
”We’ve had three Test matches involving New Zealand [twice against England last month and Australia] with similar incidents — I think someone else can make the judgement,” said Jones.
Asked after the Springboks arrived in Wellington on Monday for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test whether he feels the All Blacks are too intimidating, White said: ”No, not really. [But] a couple of players have got away with a bit of leniency in the last couple of weeks.”
White said he believes All Blacks lock Keith Robinson was ”quite lucky against England”.
”If that had been back home in our country he’d probably have got a week or two’s suspension, and to be fair, I think [Brendan] Cannon is also quite lucky.”
White said a two-week ban — ”when you have one week’s rest” — ”is not too much of a suspension for punching a guy in the face”.
The Springboks have not won a Test in New Zealand since their 13-3 victory in Wellington in 1998.
But the South Africans have won their first four Tests in 2004 and captain John Smit said they are doing ”everything better this year”.
”We feel like we’ve got some ammunition to fight some kind of a war. That is a big factor for the players and that’s why we are looking forward to this game so much.”
While White has heard ”a lot of talk from past All Blacks” that Graham Henry’s side are playing with the ”mongrel” of previous All Blacks sides, he is ”not expecting anything different from a normal New Zealand-South Africa Test match”.
White has had an unbeaten start to his Test coaching career with two wins over Ireland, a big victory against Wales and a 38-24 win over the Pacific Islanders at Gosford in Australia on Saturday night.
He said the South Africans are still the underdogs against the All Blacks, but they have ”nothing to lose”.
”We haven’t won here since 1998 and no one is expecting us to win. It’s a great way to go into a fixture when you can play with everything you’ve got.”
He thinks selection has been the Springboks’ Achilles heel in recent years, but the current side has been ”a lot more competitive than we’ve been in the past”.
White (40) never played for the Springboks, but coached South Africa’s under-21 team to the world championships title in 2002.
He said coaching against the All Blacks is the pinnacle.
”There’s big talk back home that you haven’t played a Test until you’ve played against the All Blacks. For me, just to coach the Springboks is a huge honour, and what a wonderful opportunity to come and play against New Zealand.
”That’s where you get judged, not only as coaches, but also as players. We want to get judged against the best.” — Sapa-NZPA