Tri-Nations
Robinson dismisses Bok criticism
Scrum.com
August 5, 2009

Australia prop Benn Robinson has hit back at criticism of the Wallaby scrum by South Africa coach Peter De Villiers ahead of their Tri-Nations Test in Cape Town on Saturday.

De Villiers has spoken out on his belief that the Wallabies will collapse any scrum that they are losing in order to hopefully milk a penalty from the referee. With his remarks likely to draw the attention of Saturday's referee, Alain Rolland, Robinson has attempted to redress the balance.

The Wallaby scrum has been heavily criticised in recent seasons, but under the guidance of Robbie Deans, Robinson, hooker Stephen Moore and veteran prop Al Baxter have improved greatly.

"Definitely not. I don't understand why you would want to bring down a scrum," Robinson told AAP. "I don't want to pack too many scrums or I don't want to go overboard. I enjoy scrummaging but, you know, we don't go out there to pull down scrums. There's no issue for us whatsoever.

"There's your critics out there, but you're always going to have them. We're confident in our abilities and confident about what we can do. It's the Springboks at Newlands and that's going to be a big test for us. The whole front row is pretty excited about it and it showed in training today and in just how we've gone about things the past few weeks."

The Wallabies are looking to bounce back from a disappointing opening loss to the All Blacks, and will be keenly aware of the physical battering that New Zealand sustained at the hands of the Springboks in the past two weeks.

Robinson played up the effectiveness of the Wallabies' brutal training this week, with flanker Phil Waugh showing scars from their intense sessions. Deans is set to join the squad on Wednesday after attending the funeral of his father in New Zealand, and Robinson has good things to report.

"Phil Waugh got split again today," Robinson said. "But it's good to see that you train as you play. When you see training get to a level when players are going really hard, it really tests you as a player.

"It relates back to scrummaging as well. If you're going soft in scrummaging in training, it's going to relate back to the field.

"So to see that competitiveness and to see Phil Waugh get cut is a bonus. It's what you expect in such a heated environment. Especially before such a big game like this weekend."

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