The Crusaders have responded to the Lions’ claims of illegal scrummaging tactics.
On Tuesday, Lions coach Swys de Bruin said he planned to meet with the match officials to ensure they get a ‘fair deal’ in the Super Rugby final.
‘There is a lot that [the Crusaders] get away with compared to other teams in the competition, like the offsides line and the hit on the left-hand side of the scrum on the loosehead,’ he explained.
The Crusaders hit back in Christchurch on Friday, with assistant forwards coach Jason Ryan tagging Lions tighthead prop Ruan Dreyer as one of the biggest offenders in Super Rugby, having been penalised 19 times in 17 games.
‘I’ve heard it all before and it always comes up just before [a game], usually, when we name Joe Moody – just because he is the best in the world,’ Ryan said.
‘We are going up against one of the most penalised tightheads in Super Rugby for two years running. We have got our plan, we know what we want to do.’
Ryan said the Crusaders had dealt with accusations about their scrum before.
‘It is more than just Joe. We have to back that our strength as an eight will be good enough.
‘[The Lions] are scrummaging well, they scrum a lot different to us. They have got a mindset to be destructive clearly and keep the ball at the back of the scrum, and scrum for a penalty, whereas it is not often something we do. That is their point of difference, and we have our point of difference as well.’
