All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is upset with the "cheap shot" aimed at captain Richie McCaw in Saturday's 18-18 draw with Australia.
McCaw was involved in an incident with Wallabies flank Scott Higginbotham, who has been cited for illegally targeting McCaw's head.
Higginbotham appears before a a SANZAR judicial hearing on Sunday after being charged with kneeing McCaw in the head and then shortly afterwards headbutting him as a scuffle broke out in the 26th minute of the match.
His hearing will be held by SANZAR's South African judicial officer Jannie Lubbe.
Hansen revealed his frustration that McCaw was once again the victim of an alleged act of foul play and criticised the lack of protection his skipper was receiving from match officials.
"I saw the head-butt - it's another cheap shot," Hansen said.
"He seems to get them every week but everyone seems to miss them."
The All Blacks flanker was involved a similar offence during the Rugby Championship, when Springboks prop Dean Greyling was banned for two weeks for a forearm smash to his face.
McCaw said he expects the the judicial process to deal with the situation.
"It's on TV so it will get dealt with," he explained.
"It does get frustrating at times and annoying but there's not much I can do about it."
Hansen also expressed his disappointed with his side's an error-ridden display which blew their chances of a record-breaking run of Test victories.
"It was probably one of the ugliest games of rugby I've seen," he said.
"We're really, really disappointed, too many avoidable penalties, too many avoidable mistakes.
"But to play as poorly as we did and still manage to show the character and tenacity to get the draw was pleasing.
"It's not the end of the world but there's enough pain and hurt in the dressing room to make sure we learn the lessons from it."
Comments
7ton says...
Spartacus
NZ are no saints but taking the laws in general NZ do not get away with any more than anyone else. Supporters of all other teams may well think they do as you point out but that is because they are usually on the losing side and naturally are looking for reasons as to why.
What I am trying to say is that if the ref misses some infringement by the AB's it is far more likely to be noticed by fans from all countries. (except Kiwis) than if he misses something by the team losing to them (then it will be noticed by kiwis). Naturally it is more likely to be complained about by the losing side.
As for Mr McCaw his workrate is immense and he puts in more tackles than anyone and as no7 is going to be noticed more. He like any good loosie will push the boundaries and he does get penalised quite often but is very good at reading the ref and knowing just how far to go. As some poster said a while back. "Good to have in your team but an annoying bastard if he is not" which really applies to all top sportsmen.
Sadly a good part of the game today is about understanding and adapting to the particular refs interpretations which can vary greatly from game to game.
Then of course there are those that do not have a clue about the laws and think that McCaw, Pocock and others are automatically cheating by simply being within a metre of the breakdown and that a pass is forward simply because it travels forward and not taking account of the forward motion of the runners.
Nice idea about rucking but it has it's problems- see my previous article.
APV1 makes a very good point about them as well.
Posted 23:03 22nd October 2012
pog_mahone says...
rugby_phile - I think you're being a bit harsh on Richie there...
Posted 19:22 22nd October 2012
2eyedkiwi says...
@Spartacus. No, I don't understand because I never said that Richie is allowed to lie all over the ball, changing the name to Higgers makes no difference, and Richie isn't whinging (though Hansen is!). What I said is that kneeing and headbutting are cowardly. Don't jump to conclusions mate.
Posted 18:59 22nd October 2012
Carpelone says...
This time I am on McCaw's side.
Higgers' behaviour was too footballish to be acceptable.
Posted 15:38 22nd October 2012
Trader2 says...
Trinats
Good comeback - almost cowardly
Posted 14:14 22nd October 2012
Trinats2 says...
Trader2:
too stupid to comment on !!!
Posted 13:07 22nd October 2012
Spartacus says...
2eyedkiwi - By the way, what I am taking issue with is "He seems to get them every week but everyone seems to miss them". Supporters of all other teams think the same about the ability of McCaw to evade penalties. Hence he gets a frustrated whack every now and then, and I dont remember hard nosed NZ opensides of the old days whingeing like this.
Posted 12:27 22nd October 2012
Spartacus says...
2eyedkiwi - you are missing the point because you are saying that McCaw should be allowed to lie all over the ball, and neither the opposition or ref should do anything about it! You are being overly defensive because it is Sir Richie. Let's change the name to Pocock - when he is lying on the ball then either the refs need to wise up, or rucking needs to be reintroduced. Now do you understand?
Posted 12:22 22nd October 2012
passtheball says...
It was obvious the Aus game plan included niggle. Was this Dean's call? At the very first plays Sharpe and others pushed or bumped into ABs and so on for no reason. It worked for the Chiefs v Crusaders but they stopped short of head butts. Still it may have helped put the Abs off their game.
The worry is that some commentators on here and elsewhere would be happy for McCaw to be knocked senseless or lose an eye - "cause he deserves it". The lack of action from the officials until this week could also be seen as condoning the continuous action on the No7. Dean's comments were disappointingly trite.
Posted 12:19 22nd October 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Didn't Richie write in its auto-biopgraphy that he'd rise about such incidents in the future???
Maybe he should have words with his ghost writer.
Posted 11:57 22nd October 2012
7ton says...
A note on the rucking issue:
While many of us including myself may well like to see it brought back unfortunetly there is always the problem of someone copping a boot around the head/face area.
While at times it may be deliberate there is always the chance of it being accidental especially considering the speed and ferocity of the game.
Be it deliberate or accidental I can just imagine the furoe the media will make of it when somebody appears with stitches on their face and how the headlines will read. It would give rugby a very bad name.
Posted 11:31 22nd October 2012
APV1 says...
@ leebok & Spartacus - on one hand, I have to agree with you. Rucking, not raking, did used to do the trick. I certainly moved much quicker when there were stud-based incentives helping me on my way.
But it went too far, as these things are wont to do. People started having their faces raked and deliberate raking across their bodies. This is not acceptable. And how can the officials police that? Not very easily, especially with everything else going on. So they had to get it out of the game.
That has led to people finding that being offside at the breakdown is a better option than letting the opposition get quick ball. And this has given the officials a different headache.
And, as we all know, flankers - especially openside - push the boundaries. It's part of their role to disrupt the oppositions' ball and snaffle in rucks. That's why they're flirting with the Laws all the time. And it's now down to the officials to do something, not the players. The captain should bring it to the ref's attention and then leave it at that. And, of course, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Get better at competing at the breakdown and whizzing out quick ball and it negates the oppsition 7's opportunities.
And, as others have suggested, be careful what you wish for. The NZ players were no slouches when it came to clearing out players...
Higginbotham was an idiot. Possibly is one generally, but I don't know. The knee was daft and deserves a slap on the wrist - a few weeks ban, imo. But the headbutt? Now that was just dumb. And he deserves to have quite a few weeks off for that one. You just don't headbutt people, it's not on.
Posted 11:29 22nd October 2012
Capedcrusader says...
Just like the knee to Parra was accidental. No probs with it - it happen in the moment it's a CONTACT sport. The headbutt is the real issue. I wish all u folk who have an issue with so called cheating would understand what a loosies role in the game of rugby actually is. If it was your team u wouldn't blink an eyelid - its called hypocrisy.
Posted 10:00 22nd October 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@Spartacus - so now you're now saying that its not Richies fault he got a cowardly knee in the face while lying prone on the ground and a gutless headbutt for good measure ('cause he was just doing his job), but its actually the fault of the ref?? Or have I missed another point?
Posted 09:57 22nd October 2012
Spartacus says...
2eyedkiwi - no you are missing the point. All opensides are playing at the edge of the rules of the game, but I think even NZ fans would accept that McCaw gets away with more transgressions than any other player in history, which is why he is such a good player. Without being able to ruck him out, he will always be the target of foul play. It doesnt really matter whether I or anyone else condones this, it will happen unless rucking is allowed or refs look a little closer at McCaw.
Posted 09:29 22nd October 2012
bigb6969 says...
Check out the earlier Bledisloe's this year, if you want to see someone cheating offside and unpenalised then Higginthug is your man. He was offside (taking people out) so far he didn't get penalised because he was so far over the line he was out of sight.
leebok says. - LOL the All Blacks inventing rucking, I think they would love to see it come back. Lets see how long opposition sides fare if rucking was brought back and the ABs get quicker ball.
"McCheat" is a myth, just an excuse to justify their endless run of defeats, and endless line of comic book villains that McCaw has to face. Incidentally "Sir" Richie was offered a knighthood and turn it down (for now I hope) what a man, unlike Higginthug.
Posted 08:41 22nd October 2012
cuw3100 says...
@ new_j4a : tnkx mate. (may be u have a link ..)
i hope u have seen Buck Shelford floor one, (rugby player of course) while trying to seperate some handbags :) its one of the best (for me).
Seen SBW throw a few but Buck's a legend !!!
Posted 08:35 22nd October 2012
2eyedkiwi says...
@Trinats6 - completely agree with your first post, but it seems your husband got hold of your computer for the second post.
@Spartacus. Really? You'd put a knee to face of a man lying on the deck and a headbutt when you've got him by the back of the head in the same category as the job description of a test level openside?? You're as much of a coward as Higgers...
Posted 06:36 22nd October 2012
bigb6969 says...
Pietie , and Leecock - the latest line of apologists for dirty filthy cheating. They are showing their true colours, head butting, elbows to the face and eye gouging are acceptable tactics in their world to their mind.
McCaw is no more offside than any flanker, or at all, he is just the best player, a marque player for the sport, but IRB has offerred no protection of him. A 6 or 12 month ban (for the eye gouging in particular), instead of zero (Rougerie and McMillan) would have sorted out this and sent a message instead the message is the dirty constant multiple assaults are OK.
The one thing I am glad about, is McCaw just grows bigger in stature. Despite their dirty play he just keeps doing his job better than anyone. He is like Batman taking on comic villain after comic villain and winning.
Posted 04:38 22nd October 2012
LeftRightOut says...
Say what you will about Richie, but if a player is dumb enough to lead with a knee to the head and follow up with a headbutt after the whistle (on anyone) then they deserve to get banned. If you can't handle the pressure at the top level and can't control your temper then perhaps representing your country is not a good idea as you become a liability
Posted 00:17 22nd October 2012