KEY POINTS:
South African rugby coach Peter de Villiers has lobbed a verbal grenade at the All Blacks, accusing them of illegal scrummaging techniques.
His incendiary comments come two days after the New Zealand forwards held the upperhand in the scrums while winning the opening Tri-Nations test here 19-8.
De Villiers today went further by also identifying New Zealand loosehead prop Tony Woodcock as the culprit.
He accused Woodcock of manipulating the pre-hit routine to ensure the front rows were not stationary.
He said the All Blacks caused the "walking around of all the scrums by using their loosehead prop to scrum in and at times when he didn't scrum in he just came up.
"That gave them the momentum, to come in around us," said de Villiers, who expressed surprise that Australian referee Stuart Dickinson did not police that area of the game.
"They were blown for that in the previous games and we were assured the referee would look at that. It didn't happen.
"They were blown up 21 times in the previous three games (against Ireland and two tests against England) and they were allowed to play it in this one."
The South Africans would take it upon themselves to address the issue on the field rather than expect Australian referee Matt Goddard to respond in the return test in Dunedin on Saturday.
"We just have to become illegal sometimes too," de Villiers said.
"We will have to look after ourselves."
De Villiers' comments are sure to be latched on to by his All Blacks counterpart Graham Henry, who is with his team in Dunedin preparing for the second test.
Henry may well consider them a gift as he attempts to have his team in a high state of arousal to match their mental preparedness for the opening test.
Henry and his assistants Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen had been quick to downplay the comprehensive nature of last Saturday's win.
And they are keen that the air of vulnerability surrounding his team last week somehow be replicated because they cannot expect the Springboks to be so error-prone at Carisbrook.
Aside from the alleged illegal scrummaging techniques of the New Zealanders, de Villiers inadvertently went some way to aiding the home team's cause by saying the Springboks did not think the All Blacks had won the opening match.
"There is a quite positiveness that we lost it rather than they won it."
A South African journalist challenged de Villiers' claim, saying the New Zealanders dominated the scrums, dominated the Springboks physically and first five-eighth Daniel Carter took charge of the game in Wellington with his tactical kicking.
"We played it wrong in the (wet, windy) weather out there," de Villiers said.
"New Zealand were very clinical on the floor, maybe we were caught between the new laws (Experimental Law Variations) and the old laws.
"We were more disciplined there in playing the new laws rather than playing the situation under the referee very good."
The South Africans' confidence had not been dented by the result last Saturday, which ended their 13-match winning streak.
"We are very positive that we can turn it around. We've identified a few areas needing improvement."
The South Africans are remaining in Wellington until Thursday, with their delayed arrival in Dunedin due to the cooler climes in the southern city.
- NZPA
