Erasmus dismisses Rennie's scrum complaint as series is levelled at 1-1

The rivalry between South Africa and New Zealand turned heated off the field after the Springboks squared their four-Test series with a 33-26 win over the All Blacks in Cape Town, following New Zealand's 33-16 victory in the series opener in Johannesburg.

Liam Heagney reports for Planet Rugby that Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus reacted sharply at the post-match press conference to comments made earlier by his All Blacks counterpart, Dave Rennie, about the scrum battle at DHL Stadium.

Rennie had told reporters his side's scrum had improved on the previous week's difficult outing at Ellis Park, crediting referee Angus Gardner for keeping the front rows in position and preventing the Springboks from shifting across the mark.

He added that New Zealand still had work to do around their tighthead side, but felt both packs had ultimately been able to play off the set piece.

When those remarks were relayed to Erasmus, he rejected them outright, saying it was the first time in his side's history that anyone had accused the Springboks of manipulating the scrum.

He pointed out that New Zealand's first six scrums of the match had collapsed and been reset repeatedly, and questioned why the issue was only being raised in relation to their own ball.

Erasmus said he had no intention of pursuing similar complaints in public – citing a contested lineout call as an example he had chosen not to make an issue of – but suggested Rennie's comments reflected pressure on the All Blacks after the Springboks had opted against airing grievances of their own the previous week, including what he described as several uncarded head-contact incidents in Saturday's first half before Springboks lock Lood de Jager became the first player carded.

The exchange has continued to draw comment from outside the camps, with former All Black Ant Strachan among those to have weighed in on the dispute since the match.

The series now moves to its third Test, with the two sides level at 1-1 and two further meetings still to come in what has been billed as rugby's greatest rivalry. Source: Planet Rugby.