Springboks coach Rudolf Straeuli added his voice to the criticism of England’s rolling maul in Perth on Thursday after making four changes to South Africa’s side for this weekend’s World Cup crunch.
Straeuli said he agreed with Wallaby legend John Eales that England’s successful forward ploy sometimes strayed into the realms of illegality, raising the stakes ahead of Saturday’s Pool C clash.
”I saw the article by John Eales. He’s an astute guy and knows his rugby,” said Straeuli, when asked for his views on the England tactic. ”At certain times it is obstruction, but if they stay bound it’s not.
”[England flanker] Neil Back has scored a lot of tries not only for England but for Leicester by using it. So it’s certainly a strong weapon for them.”
Straeuli would not confirm if he planned to discuss the maul with the referee for Saturday’s game but said he planned to hold a wide-ranging pre-match meeting with Australian official Peter Marshall.
”I will be raising a lot of issues with the referee, but I’m not going into details,” he said.
Saturday’s match against England is an effective group decider made more significant by the fact that the loser is likely to face a daunting quarterfinal against New Zealand.
Straeuli, a member of South Africa’s 1995 World Cup-winning team, meanwhile, said he had not paid much attention to the myriad injury bulletins emerging from England’s camp.
After initially expressing doubts about key players, England coach Clive Woodward has named a full-strength side.
”I knew all along that they were going to play the team they’re playing,” said Straeuli.
”I wasn’t disrupted by that. The only disruption we’ve had is one or two injuries to our own players,” he said, dismissing the suggestion that Woodward may have been playing mind games.
”You guys in the media start the mind games — we just play along,” Straeuli quipped.
Prop Lawrence Sephaka was the most notable casualty in a side showing four changes from the one that defeated Uruguay last weekend, the Golden Lions prop making way for the Blue Bulls’s Christo Bezuidenhout.
Bezuidenhout will be making his full Test debut against arguably the most powerful front row in international rugby, following one previous appearance as a replacement against the All Blacks in August.
His introduction means South Africa’s front five will be made up entirely from the Blue Bulls Super 12 outfit.
”They all know each other well. They are a very tight unit,” he said.
Straeuli declined to be drawn on the decision to drop Sephaka, one of only a handful of non-white players in the Springbok squad.
”If you look at the team Lawrence is in the 22. He’s not in the starting line-up, but he’s not dropped,” Straeuli insisted, saying the change had been made for ”tactical reasons”.
Elsewhere, Jorrie Muller returns to partner De Wet Barry in the centres, while fullback Jaco van der Westhuyzen comes in for Werner Greeff.
Springbok skipper Corne Krige returns to the side as expected and Straeuli said he was encouraged that his captain and scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen seemed to be returning to their best level.
”To topple the top team in the world they’ve got to be at their best and they need a bit of luck as well,” Straeuli said. ”But experienced players like Corne and Joost are starting to hit form which is a good sign.” — Sapa-AFP