All Blacks threaten golden oldies scrums
AP - It's not just the Wallabies who are suffering scrummaging headaches.
The world No.1 All Blacks have threatened to implement "golden oldies" scrums next season as tension continues to build over their set piece platform.
New Zealand's assistant coach Steve Hansen revealed that depowering the set was a consideration in the aftermath of the Grand Slam-sealing victory over Wales on Saturday -- a success sullied by another scrummaging performance that attracted harsh scrutiny of a northern hemisphere referee.
Ireland's Alan Lewis regularly found fault with the New Zealand eight on the Welsh feed, a contributing factor to the All Blacks' being caned 17-8 in the penalty count during their 37-25 triumph.
Since embarking on their tour of the UK and Ireland the All Blacks have been concerned about how they are officiated when seeking to exert pressure on the opposing pack.
Those frustrations finally boiled over at the Millennium Stadium when an exasperated Hansen said the All Blacks might refuse to shove in future when the opposition halfback crouches to deliver the ball.
Hansen and head coach Graham Henry were so perplexed by Romain Poite's officiating at Twickenham and Dave Pearson's rulings in Scotland a week later that they indicated the International Rugby Board's referees chief Paddy O'Brien would be contacted for clarification.
Those discussions never eventuated. Instead Hansen offered his own solution when asked how the All Blacks could minimise penalties at the set piece.
"The answer is don't put pressure on, just let them win their ball," he said.
"We can stop trying to put pressure on the opposition scrum so they stay up. We want to put pressure on them but if they fall over all the time we're getting penalised."
"We've tried talking to the referees but we're not making any headway. We're going to have to use the summer months to put our heads together and come up with a solution.
"You can laugh at me whenI say we'll stop doing it (pushing) but we could be better off," he said, pointing out Wales accrued 18 points from penalties.
Not all were related to scrum infringements though a 39th minute penalty was converted for an All Blacks indiscretion; Stephen Jones's long range effort in the 66th minute that narrowed the All Blacks' advantage to five points followed Lewis blaming Tony Woodcock for initiating a cave-in after a series of resets.
All Blacks hooker Keven Mealamu argued they could not maintain their footing on the stadium's notoriously unstable surface -- but Lewis ruled otherwise, irritating Hansen.
"You could see the turf turned up, he obviously felt they slipped over but Alan Lewis gave a penalty," Hansen said.
"That's when you get frustrated with the officiating. Maybe a little commonsense would have been good."
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