Barney moans about England tactics

Springbok captain John Smit has accused England of employing illegal scrum tactics during the first rugby Test on Saturday.

Smit explained South Africa’s disappointing performance in the scrum by saying the Springboks were unhappy about the way England had tried to avoid the power his side had planned to exert in the set pieces.

“I’m sure the referees will put matters right once they have seen what the English did,” the Springbok hooker said.

The scrum was expected to be one of South Africa’s strong points, particularly after the way the Sharks and the Bulls had scrummed in the Super 14 competition.

With four prop forwards in their 22 for the Bloemfontein Test, the Springboks were tipped to dominate this department. However, they failed to dominate, even though the props did well in the tight loose.

The idea was for the props РDeon Carstens, Gurthr̦ Steenkamp, BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde Рto also contribute as defenders and ball carriers and to produce a high work rate in broken play.