New footage from last weekend's controversial Chiefs-Hurricanes Super Rugby match has emerged and is set to fuel claims Dave Rennie's team manipulated the game's rules to ensure depowered scrums at a critical point of the game.
The match, won 28-27 by the Chiefs, ended with "Golden Oldies" scrums, negating the Hurricanes' clear advantage in that area.
The New Zealand Herald has obtained new footage of the moments which led to referee Craig Joubert enforcing de-powered scrums for the final five minutes of the match and the Chiefs playing out the game with 14 men.
The footage is from a camera angle not shown during Sky's live broadcast.
The incident created immediate debate and today former All Black prop Craig Dowd wrote an ESPN column headlined "Scrum gamesmanship not a great look for rugby".
Like several observers, Dowd questioned the Chiefs' tactics.
The footage obtained by the Herald begins with a lineout won by the Hurricanes who then power towards the Chiefs' 22 metre line with the game in the balance.
The match is stopped due to Chiefs pivot Aaron Cruden receiving a head wound. Three Chiefs on-field personnel came onto the ground and one goes straight to replacement prop Siate Tokolahi who then sits down.
After several minutes, Tokolahi is eventually replaced, limping off with his arm around a trainer.
That forced Joubert to issue instructions that scrums would be depowered for the rest of the match, taking away a key advantage the powerful Hurricanes pack had established at scrum-time.
At the time of the incident, Hurricanes and All Blacks hooker Dane Coles complained to Joubert about the "amazing coincidence" of Tokolahi's injury after "the way we dominated their scrum".
Prior to the trainer talking to Tokolahi, the prop had not signalled that he needed any assistance and appeared to be waiting for the game to start again after Cruden was attended to. He had jogged from the lineout to the breakdown.But after being approached by the trainer, he went down on his haunches. The trainer then went to assist Cruden. Tokolahi stood up but a trainer again approached him and he went down again.
There is no audio available which reveals the conversation between the prop and the trainers.
While that unfolded, the Chiefs team manager on the sidelines engaged with the sideline match manager and Joubert came to the sideline.
Following a discussion with the match manager, Joubert, consistent with international rules, enforced depowered scrums.
The Chiefs, as is their right under scrum safety rules, declared that Siegfried Fisiihoi - who came on to the field apparently ready to play - was not proficient enough as a tighthead prop to play at Super Rugby level. That meant he had to leave the field, reducing the Chiefs to 14 men but negating the Hurricanes' clear advantage at scrum time.
The Chiefs starting tighthead prop Atunaisa Moli had left the field late in the first half with an injury and was replaced by Tokolahi.
The new footage will fuel critics' claims that the Chiefs manipulated the rules to their advantage. Fisiihoi, a converted No. 8, has played as a tighthead for Bay of Plenty in NPC rugby.
But Rennie suggested to Radio Sport earlier this week that Fisiihoi was not up to the jump in standard, saying he had been "hammered" when trying out as a tighthead scrummager at Chiefs trainings.
Asked about Tokolahi's injury, Rennie described it as "a little bit of a twinge in his back".
if someone wants to see the video footage:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11629950
it's very suspicious, at least, that the prop didn't show any sign at all that he was injured untill being approached by one of the trainers-medical staff,..... he was ready for the scrum but in the exact moment that the trainer talks to him, he went to the floor,...... and then needs the second trainer to approach him to go again to the floor,..... and begin limping,....
very suspicious also that no of the trainers-medical staff nor the same prop check out, examine, look, point, touch the injured area (his back),...... they are just talking the whole time,...... and then he limped from one leg when he had the back injured?
Dave Rennies answer to the saga (from Rugby 365):
Bloody angry' Chiefs coach says he's no cheat Thu, 28 Apr 2016 08:41
REACTION:
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie angrily denied cheating in the dying minutes of his side's nail-biting Super Rugby win over the Hurricanes last weekend.
The Chiefs stayed top of the table after scraping to a 28-27 win, with the match going to uncontested scrums for the last five minutes - after replacement tighthead prop Siate Tokolahi was injured battling the Hurricanes dominant pack.
Hurricanes skipper Dane Coles remarked to referee Craig Joubert at the time that it was "an amazing coincidence" the injury came when the home side's scrum was on top.
Then a New Zealand radio station posted a video on Facebook, followed by a similar post from the New Zealand Herald newspaper, showing Tokolahi apparently running freely from a scrum and a line-out with no contact from any other player before going down injured.
Rennie, who has been touted as a possible future All Blacks coach, said Tokolahi was genuinely injured and denied his departure was a tactical move.
"I'm bloody angry, because they're challenging our integrity," he told Radio Sport.
"We've got two injured tighthead props and that forced us to go down to 14 players - it happens, you don't want it to happen but you have to deal with it."
Under the rules of rugby, if a member of the tight five has to leave the field and a properly trained replacement is not available, then scrums are not contested as a safety measure.
"It's such a rarity, I've had 78 games in charge of the Chiefs and it's the first time we've gone to golden oldie [uncontested] scrums," he said.
Tokolahi has been named on the bench for Friday's match against the Sharks, but Rennie said that should not cast doubt on the seriousness of the injury he suffered against the Hurricanes.
"A lot of guys go off injured and front up the next week," he said.
