Boks coach labels Wallabies scrum cheats
Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has lit the fuse for an explosive Tri Nations battle on Saturday, accusing the Wallabies scrum of milking penalties at the set piece.
The Australian scrum, and in particular veteran tighthead Al Baxter, has been maligned for years as a weakness and now de Villiers says they deliberately use negative tactics in order to gain parity with their international rivals.
"They will go to ground if they want to and will bring that negativity in," de Villiers told local reporters at a coaching clinic outside of Cape Town.
"They know that they are busy losing, but they will try to milk a penalty from the other side. So we will have to see how we match up to them."
De Villiers on Tuesday named talented half Ruan Pienaar to replace centre Wynand Olivier on the bench in the only change to the South African 22 which accounted for the All Blacks 31-19 in Durban on Saturday.
De Villiers said he was expecting the Wallabies to be a more difficult proposition than the All Blacks, who the Springboks also outclassed 28-19 in Bloemfontein two weeks ago.
"(The Wallabies) definitely give more attention to the lineouts because they play much closer to each other, in channel one and two, before they play across the field," he said.
"So those little things are important. There is a very big difference to the Wallabies and All Blacks.
"The Wallabies are much more structured. They will keep you busy for much longer as they retain the ball for much longer.
"They play phases to frustrate you much more, they force you to go offside and they have a very good kicker in (Matt) Giteau."
In naming his line-up to tackle the Wallabies, De Villiers resisted the temptation to start Pienaar - who the Boks coach once famously labelled the "Tiger Woods of rugby" - ahead of superboot Morne Steyn.
Pienaar had declared himself fit to play after recovering from an ankle injury which forced him out of Saturday's win over the All Blacks and there had been speculation de Villiers may rush him back.
But Steyn's remarkable display in scoring all 31 points, a Tri Nations record, at ABSA Stadium on Saturday was enough for the Bulls flyhalf to retain his place.
In a spectacular entrance to Test rugby, Steyn has missed just two shots at goal and played a succession of starring roles since debuting against the British and Lions in June before his Durban heroics.
South Africa: Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Fourie du Preez, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, Heinrich Brussow, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, John Smit, (capt), Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira. Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Jannie du Plessis, Andries Bekker, Danie Rossouw, Ricky Januarie, Ruan Pienaar, Adi Jacobs.
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