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
ruckingkiwi says...
Carpelone,
I am sorry to tell you and how do not know how to tell you but your sentence structure is worse than a 7 year old :)
So now you're saying it was the Bulls and not the Stormers as you initially accused? After a career of this "honed technique", you'd expect an avid couch man like yourself to have available some of this ample footage you seem to be sure exists. What was it, a "career honing his technique".
As somebody recently said, some kind of players get sorted and this is what it is happening to him.. yeah err, a world cup, Bledisloe cup, the RC, imagine if he believed in god haha... fools.
Some teams get theirs too mate, a couple wins, a couple draws and plenty of losses.
And about that "spear tackle" you keep whinging about, surely as an African you should know the tackle concept is named as such because it gives the impression of the spear going into the ground.. you know, like on it's point or tip. Smit was dropped on his back, totally different, fat boy was just body slammed but fair play to him getting Thorn back, as Thorn said at the time, he was happy as John may have finally given the SA supporters a reason to stop whinging. How wrong was he!!
Posted 08:58 01st November 2012
kitch says...
carpelone
re the greyling incident.. again youve got the facts twisted to suit your opinions
mccaw wasnt the tackler and he didnt "fall" on the SA side of the ruck, he was the first to arrive after the tackle was made and was legally contesting the ball having came from the back and being on his feet
vermeulen then in my opinion legally tries to clear mccaw out knocking mccaw to the ground on the ABs side and the rest is ugly history.
so at what stage are you saying mccaw is in the wrong?? One could argue he still had his hand in the ruck after being knocked down by vermeulen but the coverage is not conclusive .. i guess mccaw could argue that he had his hands on the ball while on his feet but the ball was being held!
also interested in the evidence (game & time of the incidents) on mccaws honed technique.. or is this just yet another example of you twisting the facts!!
Posted 11:32 27th October 2012
kitch says...
carpelone
smit says "bip" bc he knows he instigated the incident
take a look with both eyes open this time.. you will clearly see that after the whistle smit climbs over thorn and tries to push his head into the ground.. you can hear the ref saying "2 no, 2, 2" ..clearly the ref thought smit was doing something wrong. Thorn then wrongly reacts to smits filth and picks him up and dumps him on his back.. please note it was not a tackle let alone a spear tackle.. smit was on top of thorn and thorn grabbed him and then stood up lifting smit and then dropped his sad ass to the ground. Thorn was then rightly penalised for retaliating.. and then like some snivelling kid running home to mummy bc a dog bit him after pulling its tail, smit whines to the ref "is that not a spear".. to which the ref dismisses him as if to say "well you deserved that"!!
you will note that a couple of plays later it is in fact thorn who appologises to smit for his part in the incident .
hardly an "example to follow" and esp when you consider his role in the pathetic arm band incident and his incessant whining about ref conspracies at post match interviews whenever they lost. He may have been a great player earlier in his career but in the later stages he is nothing but a whining has been.
Posted 10:29 27th October 2012
Carpelone says...
7ton
You are always welcome.
In my first comment, I was wrong as I said that he entered from the side.
Posted 13:21 25th October 2012
Carpelone says...
Ruckingkiwi
I am sorry to tell you and how do not know how to tell you but I am not working for you.
It should have been in the Bulls game at home, so you are welcome to go and see it again.
As somebody recently said, some kind of players get sorted and this is what it is happening to him.
Posted 13:15 25th October 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
Carpelone, still waiting on your evidence that McCaw leads with his knee when entering rucks. I think your exact words were that he has "honed a technique for clearing the ruck"... where your supporting argument mentioned the Crusaders vs Stormers match earlier this year, which as it turns out, McCaw didn't play.
What do you think will come first, evidence of this "honed technique" or the Springboks completing a tour of the Northern Hemisphere unbeaten?
I await with interest.. :)
Posted 02:07 25th October 2012
7ton says...
Carpelone
Thanks and your comments seem fair minded however from what I remember I don't think McCaw did fall over with or after the tackle and only went to ground when taken out by Vermulen. He well may not have released the tackled player but I don't think it was that clear to make out.
I am a bit short of time right now but a will look at the replay again as soon as I can and will be happy to discuss it with you further
Posted 01:35 25th October 2012
Carpelone says...
7ton
McCaw and the Greyling incident.
McCaw was the tackler, fell on the Boks' side of the ruck without releasing (penalty for SA).
Then he was cleared by Vermeulen and he was forced to released the ball and the tackled player (penalty for NZ). I think that Vermeulen's clearing was not legal, he should have left the ref blow the offence and this is a mistake that we often make (try to sort things out).
Then McCaw got stuck in the middle of the ruck with no defence and got elbowed by Greyling (red card to Greyling, 6 to 8 week suspension and a nominee for the idiot of the year).
This is the way I see it.
A quick ball from that ruck was however quite crucial as the Boks proved to be quite dangerous on their right wing.
Posted 16:05 24th October 2012
Bronco says...
I love the way certain people try to paint this as Higginbotham somehow 'sorting' Richie out for illegal play. Maybe if the lazy bugger had been at the ruck in time to make a difference you could say that. instead he turns up (from what would have been an offside position) after the whistle was blown and knees a man sitting on the ground in the face. What a hero.
Posted 09:21 24th October 2012
Bronco says...
Not sure why so many Aussies think bringing back rucking is a good idea.
Do they really think the Aussie pack will be able to match New Zealand South Africa or Argentina if rucking in the traditional style is brought back in?
How long would O'Connor, Beale or Cooper last in that game?
Posted 09:04 24th October 2012
7ton says...
Spartacus
In order to get a clear understanding I would be grateful if you could clarify how McCaw was infringing in the greyling incident.
Posted 22:31 23rd October 2012
nzmaoriboy says...
Plenty of avenues to smash a player legally in rugby?? Mccaw carries the ball a lot..Got drilled a couple of times in Argentina & a couple of times against SA legitimately..Players that need to wait for play stoppages to "MAN UP" are tools..he he..Its the equivalent of aiming up and calling a certain player cheat cheat cheat on the internet..he he..a pointless & useless exercise that displays how insecure you are! I can recognise great australian rugby players that are amazing ie..Campese,Horan,Poidavon(the man),larkham,Gregan,farr jones,eels,kearns..To many to count..My favorite is George smith dude was amazing athletic skillful & a master at the breakdown! I will never decry or deride his ruck nous he is a legend! but off the same bat I believe McCaw was well just a little bit better! Offer a balanced view peeps then you may be taken a bit more seriously
Posted 19:49 23rd October 2012
new_j4a says...
@Trinats, fell off my chair.....that is a possibility, I suppose... :)
Posted 15:27 23rd October 2012
Trinats2 says...
new_j4a:
Gotta ask yourself, why is McCaw protecting the ref !!! What goes around ........
Posted 13:41 23rd October 2012
Spartacus says...
new_j4a - forgot about that incident. It looks like the bloke is just trying to hug the ref and then McCaw launches a disgusting assault on him. Only joking!
Posted 10:56 23rd October 2012
Spartacus says...
7ton, I dont disagree with you on McCaw's skill. He is not the best for nothing.
But he does seem to be given longer lying on the ball than other players. Not sure why.
If you take the Greyling incident, Greyling was an idiot, but McCaw was infringing right in front of touch judge and within view of the ref. The whistle should have been blown before Greyling lost the plot. The ref should have had a word with McCaw after carding Greyling. He said to De Villiers - "I will handle it" - but did absolutely nothing.
Will try and find pieces on rucking, but I never understood why it was stopped. If I think about serious rugby injuries then I am concerned about high impact collisions and scrums, and lately gouging, but never rucking.
See Hansen call for return of rucking http://bit.ly/TDGmTS
Posted 10:51 23rd October 2012
Carpelone says...
John Smit is the example to follow.
He got an awful spear tackle by Brad Thorn (who was not even cited), surely beyond the red car threeshold, and he dd not say bip.
He gave him back a terrific legal hit the next time they met.
Smit, a true legend.
Posted 09:42 23rd October 2012
Trinats2 says...
Trader2:
too stupid to comment on !!!
Posted 03:08 23rd October 2012
turmeric says...
Higginbotham is a thug and deserved the 4 weeks he got (actually I think he should have got a lot more and then this sort of crap might not happen so much!!). It is cowardly and desperate and took the shine off for me what was a solid performance from the OZs.
Those who are trying to justify the actions of Higginbotham are pretty sad.
At the end of the day the ABs are simply too good at the moment and that means idiots like Higginbotham will come out and play dirty.
Kia kaha ABs!! Roll on the unbeaten streak!!
Posted 23:29 22nd October 2012
new_j4a says...
@cuw3100 Here's the link to the event, but I think I have seen a different camera angle that documents the RMcC punch....at least I hope I did....maybe old age and wishful thinking?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl8S2bJN2pY
Posted 23:16 22nd October 2012