Bok coach publicly raises alarm over illegal All Blacks acts 'the franchises weren't happy with'

Springboks assistant coach Felix Jones has raised concerns over the legality of the All Blacks‘ tactics after receiving feedback from the South African franchises.

The All Blacks have faced the Stormers, the Sharks and the Bulls in the opening three matches of their Greatest Rivalry series, recording three victories in the process ahead of the first Test against Rassie Erasmus’ side on Saturday at Ellis Park.

Speaking to the media ahead of the much-anticipated encounter in Johannesburg, Jones revealed some of the feedback the Springboks have received from the franchises after their encounters with the All Blacks. The Bok coaching staff have seen plenty that confirmed their own observations from the Nations Championship, particularly in how New Zealand are looking to play, but Jones said “a couple of things caught the franchises out”.

The World Cup-winning coach highlighted that “tucked shoulders” at the breakdown and “pulling or trying to lift a leg” at the maul were two infringements that the franchises aggrieved by, with the former being a serious offence that could easily result in a red card.

While the Irishman added “we just want it to be within the laws,” this sort of rhetoric has come straight out of the Rassie Erasmus playbook, with the Springboks very publicly making the officials aware of these potential infringements heading into the match.

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“A lot of it was confirmation of what we saw in the Nations Championship in terms of how they’re trying to attack, defend, and play with their kicking game,” he said when assessing the All Blacks’ performances so far in South Africa.

“A couple of things caught the franchises out and a couple of themes were consistent across the feedback (we received). One was around the breakdown, where they experienced tucked shoulders going in, which the franchises weren’t happy with, and a reversed-arm non-wrapping action.

“The other was that the franchises were actually quite happy with the opportunities they created, getting into scoring positions around 10m out, with multiple lineout opportunities there, but they were frustrated they couldn’t score from the driving maul. It’s tough when there’s someone pulling or trying to lift a leg or going off their feet. Those were probably the two main themes.

“We’re all for the physical side of the game, as everyone is aware. We just want it to be within the laws. So, we’re aware of it going into the game.

“We’ve coached against Dave Rennie (All Blacks head coach) with Glasgow and with Australia, and the word ‘brutal’ follows his coaching, and there are some amazing elements to how quickly they get their ruck speed going. But World Rugby’s number one priority is safety, so we just want to make sure that physicality and brutality stay within the laws.”