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+---- Thread: The war of words begins (/Thread-The-war-of-words-begins)
The war of words begins - mcamp999 - 10-08-2005
The Springboks will land in Perth on Thursday morning to find a right royal sledging match in full swing.
After their defeats to South Africa in the first two matches of the Vodacom Tri-Nations, the Wallabies and the All Blacks have upped the ante in the psychological war stakes, with former coaches and captains putting the boot in good and proper given the slightest chance.
The Springboks have not escaped attention in this handbags-at-dawn scuffle.
Kevin Putt, the former Sharks coach and wannabe Springbok, is reported to have launched an attack on Bok lock Victor Matfield, saying that he wears a steel strip under the wrapping on his forearm.
He wears a steel strip under the wrapping on his forearm
Putt, who has returned to the land of his birth to coach NPC team Counties Manukau, said on New Zealand television that Springbok captain John Smit had told him that Matfield wears a steel protector on his arm.
A source close to the Blue Bulls laughed off the claim on Tuesday.
Putt's claims come in the midst of grumbling in New Zealand circles that Matfield was not banned for his tackle on All Black Byron Kelleher after just 10 minutes of the Cape Town Test.
The tackle concussed the New Zealand scrumhalf and he had to be substituted. Both referee Andrew Cole and the citing commissioner agreed that Matfield had done nothing wrong when he tackled Kelleher.
Matfield laughed off the claims on Tuesday.
'He has struggled to step up to the international game'
"A metal plate will be a bit heavy if I want to get my arms in the air for a line-out or kick-off," Matfield told keo.co.za. "I did not hit Byron with the forearm. I connected him with my shoulder in going for the tackle. That's the way the judiciary also saw it. It was not malicious. I am not a malicious player and my track record during my Test career indicates this."
Former Wallaby captain and scrumhalf Nick Farr-Jones told the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday that he did not think that Kelleher had sufficiently filled Justin Marshall's shoes.
"Everyone knows the best way to beat the All Blacks, as it has been for the last two decades and probably ad infinitum, is to put pressure on the inside backs - then they're going to struggle," said Farr-Jones.
"I think everyone realises you have to move on and bring through the new people and the younger players - albeit Byron is not that young.
"But when Marshall was there he probably brought a greater maturity and an ability, if things were going pear-shaped, to switch to plan B."
Ahead of the Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney on Saturday, the Australian media have jumped on the All Blacks loss to the Springboks as a sign that there is yet hope for the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations.
The Herald said that the All Blacks looked vulnerable and in trouble because of the injuries to Kelleher and, more importantly, captain Tana Umaga.
Former All Blacks and Cats coach, Laurie Mains, who has paid South African rugby some roundabout compliments this year, fired the biggest salvo for the New Zealand sledgers on Sunday, when he suggested that Wallaby coach Eddie Jones should step down.
Writing for Auckland's Sunday News, Mains put forth the notion that "the Bledisloe Cup doesn't look to be under too much threat this year... The Australian team is sliding off its peak rather than climbing".
"Jones was a successful coach with the Brumbies, but he has struggled to step up to the international game. It's clear that his (Jones's) style of management has worn pretty thin with some of his players.
"He has been in the job since 2001 and he doesn't seem to be getting the same amount of commitment out of the team. That was clear when two of his senior players, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri, were at a nightclub in South Africa at 4am a couple of nights from a Test."
Jones and All Black coach Graham Henry have kept out of the war of words, as has White, although the Springbok coach would have noted that they both blamed their losses to the Boks on their own "mistakes".
The war of words begins - mcamp999 - 11-08-2005
By Ken Borland
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Envy is behind allegations Springbok lock Victor Matfield has been concealing a steel plate in his arm guard, his coach Jake White said on Wednesday.
Matfield was cited for a tackle on Byron Kelleher 10 minutes into Saturday's test against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
Kelleher was concussed and replaced, but a judicial committee cleared Matfield of any wrongdoing, finding the tackle was legitimate and not dangerous.
But Counties Manakau coach Kevin Putt, who represented the All Blacks at sevens and South Africa on tour, was quoted on New Zealand radio as saying Matfield wears a steel strip under the wrapping on his forearm.
Putt claimed Springbok captain John Smit, who was under his guidance while Putt was coach at Natal, had told him of Matfield's "steel protector".
White said Putt's claims were "laughable".
"As soon as a side starts winning, these things happen. Other teams try to put heat on you and make big things out of nothing.
"There is no way an international player would have a steel plate on his arm. Can you imagine if the bandage came off? Besides, it was actually Victor's shoulder that hit Byron Kelleher on the chin, it had nothing to do with his arm.
"JOKE CLAIMS"
"Gareth Thomas wore a brace for the British Lions against New Zealand and what about Stephen Larkham's arm guard -- what's in there? I don't know why Kevin Putt said it," White said.
Smit also rejected Putt's claims, saying he "thought it was a joke".
"I haven't spoken to Kevin Putt since he was fired from the Sharks and before that I never spoke to him about Victor Matfield or his arm," Smit said.
The Springboks left for Australia on Wednesday, ahead of their Tri-nations match against the Wallabies in Perth on August 20. Momentum is with the South Africans, who have won their opening two matches of the Tri-nations, beating New Zealand last weekend and Australia in Pretoria on July 30, both by a 22-16 margin.
The Springboks also beat Australia 30-22 in Johannesburg on July 23 in the second leg of the Mandela Challenge Plate.
"It is a huge achievement to beat Australia twice and the All Blacks in three successive weeks. Not many teams have done that, so don't under-write it," White told reporters in Johannesburg before the Springboks' departure.
A victory in Perth or against the All Blacks in Dunedin on August 27 would see South Africa retain the Tri-nations title and move them to number one in the International Rugby Board rankings, but Smit said his team's focus would stay on the Perth test.
"Our focus is only on the next task and things like the number one ranking are just a by-product of winning the next test in front of you," he said.