All Blacks: Dirty over mud throwing

The All Blacks camp fear Richie McCaw will be targeted by referees after a constant barrage of criticism. Photo / Getty Images

The never-ending campaign to undermine the All Blacks through wild accusations and unprecedented judicial scrutiny is beginning to irk the New Zealand camp.

They say it's only to be expected; that, as the No1 team in the world, opponents will look for ways to derail them. But privately there is increasing concern this campaign to sabotage their reputation could have some success. There is also disappointment that some of their key players are having their integrity questioned.

Since the All Blacks left for Hong Kong five weeks ago, they have been under siege. The haka, their scrummaging, Richie McCaw and their discipline have all been attacked by rugby rivals becoming increasingly concerned that the All Blacks are starting to look like the complete rugby side.

The likes of Australia and Ireland in particular may feel like they are running out time and ideas on how they can close the gap with the All Blacks so are trying to make mileage through alternative means.

"I have no doubt there is a bit of a campaign coming out of Australia to try to put pressure on referees to do things differently," says All Black assistant coach Steve Hansen.

"You have only got to listen to some of the stuff Robbie [Deans] is saying in the media to understand that. He's either under an extreme amount of pressure himself and trying to divert [attention] or he's trying to play mind games with referees. There is a bit of that going on."

Deans suggested referees have a pre-conception the Wallabies are poor scrummagers and penalty counts reflect that, rather than reality. He suggested the All Blacks are masters at manipulating that pre-conception.

"We came off a fixture against the All Blacks ... they don't scrummage. They just manipulate, they play the referee constantly. It's all about trickery.

"Then you get to the United Kingdom, and they scrummage more so. There are elements of trickery but they do want to go forward with that trickery.

"You watch the scrummaging in the Heineken Cup and the Top 14, it's fantastic, but the referees contribute to that because they allow them to scrummage. In the Southern Hemisphere, we contributed to our own demise to a large extent because the referees are afraid of the scrummage. There are a lot less collapses [here] as a result."

Those comments from Deans were made the day after Irish flanker Stephen Ferris attacked the legality of McCaw's work at the breakdown. This old chestnut has been around for years and usually the All Blacks don't bother responding.

But there is a sense now that too many nations are attacking the All Black skipper and the volume of derision will inevitably have an impact on the thinking of referees.

On one hand, it's flattering that opponents are so determined to verbalise their thoughts on how the All Blacks are playing and how they operate. As Oscar Wilde put it: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

The harping is a sign of respect and fear. Yet, there is also a concern brewing that, as World Cup year approaches, the All Blacks will be fighting a rearguard action with world officials.

Every referee in charge of an All Black test will be under the most intense pressure. McCaw will be watched more closely than any other flanker in the competition and, inevitably, one referee might see his chance to make a name for himself by being the man who stood up to the All Black captain and penalised him out of the game.

Uncertain to what might really be going on in the scrum, will all referees resist penalising the All Blacks on the basis that Deans has already branded them guilty?

The other fear is that opposition teams are poring over video tapes in the hope they will find evidence of All Black indiscretions.

The world is ganging up on the All Blacks, but Hansen remains confident the game's leading officials are too professional to get caught up in this side-show.

"I have a lot of faith in the system. The top four or five referees in international rugby are consistent, which is why they are the top referees.

"I have a lot of faith in them. You'd be misguided if you thought anything else."

That said, the All Blacks are likely to take a belt-and-braces approach. The coaching staff wanted to meet IRB referees boss Paddy O'Brien ahead of the Scottish test to clarify a few things around the scrum engagement.

That meeting will be pursued with the All Blacks likely to seek reassurances they are going to be treated fairly in 2011.