Dave Rennie denies conflict with Rassie Erasmus ahead of crucial match

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus issued a sharp response to comments from his All Blacks colleague, Dave Rennie, who accused the South African team of 'dawdling' during scrums.

The escalation of mutual accusations between Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus and his All Blacks counterpart Dave Rennie occurred on Monday. Erasmus continued to insist that the South African forwards are not 'dawdling' in the scrum.

Rennie made this accusation after the second test, held in Cape Town on Saturday, stating that the Springboks were deliberately moving in the scrum to gain a penalty. These remarks caused dissatisfaction among Springbok player Ox Nche, the left prop, and now Erasmus himself.

Erasmus accused Rennie of presenting his opinion as an established fact instead of using the official channels available to coaches.

Fact versus Opinion

After the team selection for the third test was announced, Erasmus stated: 'My disappointment was not so much about his opinion, but about when an opinion is presented as a fact.' He emphasized that there are clear protocols for such situations.

'There are clear protocols now. You can send five video clips to the World Rugby officiating system, and that is where your concerns should be raised. If I sit here and say that New Zealand is illegally clearing the ball at the ruck, and the referees should look into it, that does not comply with protocol. It is a conversation with the referees through the media, and I have suffered from this before,' he noted.

Previously, Erasmus had faced issues due to public criticism of refereeing by World Rugby, and he was clearly worried about a recurrence of such a scenario. He believes that Rennie's comments could create a narrative that influences public opinion and puts additional pressure on the official referees.

'As soon as you release such a narrative, everyone starts focusing on it—all the media, all the podcasts, everyone starts analyzing it—and many people conducting this analysis have no real knowledge of scrums,' said Erasmus. 'What is happening is people interpreting Dave's comments as fact.'

Immediately after the Springboks defeated the All Blacks 33-26 on Saturday evening, Erasmus had already begun a firm defense of his team. He asked: 'This is the first time in history that these people are saying we are dawdling. So why would we want to start dawdling now?'

He also pointed to statistics: 'The first six scrums on New Zealand's half were completely turned over. And it was turned over, turned over, turned over, turned over. So why does this happen every time only on their ball? So don't carry this nonsense and say we are dawdling, and try to bring it out in the media. We are not damn dawdling. We are going through the scrum. We have never, ever, ever been accused of dawdling, so I don't understand.'

Rennie Violates Protocol

Erasmus maintained this position on Monday as the Springboks prepare for the decisive third match in Johannesburg. He stated: 'We never order the team to dawdle past the opponent; that is not our strength, so we do not act that way.'

The Bok coach stressed that he does not object to Rennie raising questions about the scrum, but insisted on the existence of proper procedure for doing so. 'I am not upset that Dave wants to convey his point. There are many things I would like to say about New Zealand too, but there is a system we must follow,' added Erasmus.

He clarified: 'I only have five clips that I can submit after the match, so publicly mentioning other incidents contradicts the protocol, as it must go through the system. We do not want to put more pressure on the referees through the media.'

Despite the escalating rhetoric, Erasmus insisted there was no personal animosity between the two coaches. 'I am friends with Dave and I understand what he is trying to do.'

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All Blacks captain Ardie Savea admitted to feeling nervous after his tackle on South African opponent Jasper Weesie during the first match of the biggest rugby rivalry, which took place at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Savea collided with Weesie in the shoulder and head area in the second half of the match, which ended with an All Blacks victory of 33-16. Despite this, officials did not issue a warning.

The All Blacks captain stated: 'Today I will be quite biased; I am happy with the decision. I was nervous, but they made the call, they made that challenge, and it worked in our favor.'

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie provided a more detailed assessment, explaining why referee Matthew Carley made the correct decision. He emphasized: 'Technically, it is the right decision. You can see on video that when he hits him, his head goes forward. This means the initial impact is on the body, and then the head moves forward. If the head leans back, the initial impact is directly on the head. This is truly good officiating, and it's nice to see at this level.'

The All Blacks' defense was outstanding that evening, allowing the two-time world champions only one attempt from Andre Esterhuizen. Rennie specifically praised the contribution of All Blacks legend and defensive coach Tana Umaga. He said: 'Tana and his defensive group did an excellent job. We have many guys who work hard for each other. You did well limiting South Africa to one try, so it was a big defensive effort.'

The former Wallabies coach, who has a proud record against the Boks, welcomed the victory but remains cautious about a possible negative reaction from the Boks in Cape Town over the upcoming weekend. He noted: 'This is huge. We have the advantage [in the series]. Obviously, this doesn't guarantee anything, and we know they are a very good team. Next week will be just as tough. It's nice to be ahead by one match, and we'll enjoy a quiet beer, but we'll quickly shift our focus to the Lions.'

The All Blacks will face the Lions at Ellis Park on Tuesday evening in the final match of the round before traveling to Cape Town, where the second match will take place at the DHL stadium on Saturday.