Israel Dagg reveals All Blacks’ own ‘take a break’ tactic amid accusations against go-slow Springboks
Springboks star Eben Etzebeth getting treatment after going down injured and All Blacks great Israel Dagg.
Ex-All Blacks star Israel Dagg has admitted that they had a call to fake an injury in order to slow the game down when needing to readjust.
New Zealand have consistently stated that they want a quick game when they take on the Springboks in a four-Test series which starts this weekend.
They are fearful of being slowed down by South Africa, who have been accused of using tactics such as faking injuries in order to halt an opponent’s momentum.
The All Blacks have not revealed what they are specifically taking issue with and Dagg believes that it is more an officiating issue rather than something which is directly linked to the Boks.
Dagg’s ‘open and honest’ revelation
“This slowing the ball down or slowing the game down could mean many a thing, so what are we thinking here? Is it players going down just to get a little break and a little KitKat?” he said on Sport Nation’s Scotty and Izzy podcast.
“We used to talk about it, I will be open and honest here, we used to talk about having a KitKat, which is take a break – the tagline associated with KitKat.
“You would give one of the players a little nod, go down, have a little KitKat and we’ll just reconnect and recalibrate and go again.
“Is it that? Is it pushing the boundaries in terms of formation, like the 30-second rule? Once the mark is there, you’ve 30 seconds to form the scrum, form the lineout and get the ball in play.
“You can’t tell me that the referee’s looking at his watch going like this going, ‘one, two, three, four…’ Is that where the concern is?
“For me, the only concern I have with slowing the game down is basically TMOs, that’s where I get a lot of the concern.
“I’m not really focusing on South Africa or the All Blacks, it’s the way that the game is being officiated, that’s where I get concerned in the game becoming slower than it has been in the past.”
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Dagg’s co-host, Scotty Stevenson, then offered his response, suggesting that the big issue for creating a slow game is referees “coaching” the players.
“I think the fake injury breaks have been a blight on the game and that’s not a South African problem, teams do that all around the world,” Stevenson said.
“There’s a style of play where you take lineouts and set-piece every time and then take your time to form those various elements of the game, the lineout or the scrum, but the bigger concern for me is the breakdown.
“What you’ve got on the field now is referees will coach you and we’ve had that for a long time, ‘hands off now, hands off now’.
“Players get a lot of warning and so when you’re looking to slow ruck ball down, you find that edge very quickly.
“If you think about how you do that and the great exponents of it in the game, you’re going to go and fight for possession even if that’s across the line, you’re going to wait to see how long the referee’s going to give you, you’re maybe going to have a second crack at it and you’re going to take every moment not to release the ball.”
Officials have ‘got to set a tone’
Stevenson therefore reckons the All Blacks will want the officials to be making calls earlier and decisively in order to prevent the Springboks from using some sly tricks at the breakdown to slow the ball down.
“There you’ve got to set a tone… and maybe both teams. We’re making assumptions that South Africa will want to play slow ruck ball, kick from the base, and the All Blacks want that ball recycled and used, and to go into phase play quickly, set up pods, set up second lines and get moving,” he said.
“That is going to be one of the crucial elements of this game, which is just what kind of leeway defending players at the ruck are given and how much warning.
“We’ve seen referees in the past who don’t give those warnings, Mathieu Raynal, who just blows his whistle, but I think throughout this with English referees involved, you will see a lot of instruction to players.
“That is where I think the All Blacks would like to see referees looking very, very closely at making those calls early at the breakdown.”
Dagg added: “That breakdown is going to be contest, they’ve got some genuine threats there and I truly believe that South Africa over the last three to four years, probably even longer, have sped up their game, their style and the way that they play.”
