New Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen has described the criticism of captain Richie McCaw’s work at the breakdown as “boring” after Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris became the latest person to accuse the All Blacks of getting away with illegally slowing down opposition ball.
McCaw, 29, has been world rugby’s scavenger supreme at the breakdown since making his debut against Ireland in 2001, with his strong ripping power and ability to rapidly latch on to the ball marking him out as one of the greatest players in his position.
Openside flankers, by their very nature, have to live on the edges of the game’s laws, but McCaw, who along with Mils Muliaina is New Zealand’s most capped player of all time with 93, has come in for plenty of stick during 2010.
South Africa were less than happy during their Tri Nations game in Wellington when McCaw was warned by Irish referee Alain Rolland that if he were to give away another penalty he would be sin-binned, only to infringe just moments later and remain on the pitch.
When McCaw was penalised during a Bledisloe Cup game against Australia later in the tournament, former Wallaby hooker-turned-commentator Phil Kearns joked that it was the first time the Crusaders man had been pinged in his career.
And Ferris, who scored Ireland’s first try in last weekend’s 38-18 defeat in Dublin, has argued that New Zealand were lucky to keep 15 men on the field as they continually slowed Irish possession during the final quarter, singling out McCaw as a key factor in that process.
But an unimpressed Hansen hit back, saying: “That’s becoming quite boring now I think. He is the greatest openside flanker in the game and he probably knows the rules better than the referees.
“If he makes a tackle and ends up on their side of the tackle, he is allowed to be there and compete for the ball until a ruck is formed. A ruck is not formed until two players are bound over the ball so he is not doing anything illegal.
“Every time he goes to speak to a referee about a penalty, which most of the time he has not given away, a commentator will say ‘there is the ref talking to McCaw again, he should have been yellow-carded’.
“It’s quite disrespectful, but all it does is make Richie play better, so I can put up with the boredom if it keeps motivating him. It’s just an excuse really.”