Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says the Springboks have also been guilty of the gamesmanship for which Cam Roigard has been criticised.
Roigard came under fire following an incident in the second half of New Zealand’s 29-24 defeat at FNB Stadium last Saturday, when he remained on the ground holding his head after a clash with Cobus Reinach.
The flashpoint occurred after the Boks had been awarded a penalty try from a dominant scrum. Roigard held onto Reinach after the whistle and the Bok scrumhalf responded by flipping his opposite number backwards onto the turf.
Replays showed Roigard’s head did not make contact with the ground, but referee Nika Amashukeli reviewed the incident with his fellow officials and penalised Reinach, allowing New Zealand to restart from halfway.
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Former Bok captain Jean de Villiers subsequently accused Roigard of “taking a dive”, while former England scrumhalf Ben Youngs was also critical of the All Blacks No 9.
Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast, Hansen conceded that Roigard should not have reacted as he did, but argued that such gamesmanship was not unique to New Zealand.
“You don’t want it so he probably shouldn’t do it,” Hansen said. “There are people diving all the time. The way the rules are with head knocks, you’ve only got to go back to the last World Cup and the Sam Cane incident.”
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Hansen was referring to the 2023 World Cup final in Paris, when All Blacks captain Cane was sent off following a high tackle on Bok centre Jesse Kriel.
The former All Blacks coach suggested Kriel had drawn attention to the contact in an attempt to influence the officials.
“Kriel was OK and then all of a sudden he’s holding his head. It’s how you play the ref to get his attention and it’s in our game.
“Do we want it in our game? No we don’t and no team is innocent.”
The post Hansen: Kriel contributed to Cane red card appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen says the Springboks have also been guilty of the gamesmanship for which Cam Roigard has been criticised.
The post Hansen: Kriel contributed to Cane red card appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
