Mallett accuses All Blacks of 'basically cheating' in scrum row with Springboks

Former Springbok head coach Nick Mallett has accused the All Blacks of “basically cheating” in the scrum, escalating a war of words that has dominated the build-up to the third Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

The row was sparked when All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie complained after his side’s defeat in the second Test, claiming South Africa were “able to walk around and go straight through our tighthead.” South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus hit back sharply, pointing out that New Zealand’s own scrums had collapsed repeatedly — and only on their own ball. “The first six scrums New Zealand had, every single one collapsed,” Erasmus said. “Don’t come with that nonsense and say that we’re walking around.”

Mallett, speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, went further. He argued that the All Blacks are deliberately going to ground in the scrum to force a 50-50 refereeing call rather than absorb a certain penalty for being driven backwards. “What they do now is they don’t want to stay up because if they collapse, they force the referee to make a decision between one or the other side,” Mallett said. “So you have a 50 per cent chance of getting it right, of actually getting a penalty.”

He was scathing about the standard of officiating in this area, insisting referees should be identifying which side is actively pulling the scrum down. “The referees should be good enough to see who is actually pancaking, who’s going down,” he said. “You’re turning it into, basically, a joke because the side that puts the ball in just collapses the scrum.”

Mallett also used the podcast to reinforce South Africa’s dominance up front, claiming the only front row capable of matching the Springboks’ starting trio would be their own replacements. He singled out Malcolm Marx and Ox Nché as particularly formidable, warning that any opposition hooker or tighthead facing that combination is “in for a really tough afternoon.”

The Springboks were dominant in the scrum during the first Test in Johannesburg, where they controlled large portions of the match, before the All Blacks showed more resistance in the second Test — which they still lost. With the series level heading into the decider, the set-piece battle looks set to be the defining contest of the finale.