Crusaders and All Blacks prop Joe Moody got straight to the point when he was asked about Wayne Smith’s recent comments on lineouts and mauls.
Speaking on the All Blacks podcast, Smith was highly critical of the state of rugby and the current advantage laws and how teams overuse the maul.
How to ‘fix’ the driving maul
Smith has long been a critic of the driving maul, and despite the maul being a source of two tries for the Smith-led Black Ferns in their victorious Rugby World Cup final against England last year, his views have not changed.
“If, like me, you don’t like the constant mauls, I reckon one thing that will fix it is if you get the penalty and you kick to touch,” Smith said on the All Blacks podcast. “The other team gets the throw-in. That would stop all these incessant kicks down to the corner and driving mauls and mauls that fall over.”
The former All Blacks attack guru also takes exception to the length of advantage and that it eats up time before another driving maul.
“We’re going to go seven, eight phases, and if it goes nowhere, we’re going to come back, and it’s going to be a penalty,” he said. “Then, 30 seconds to kick the ball and another 40 seconds for the lineout to happen. It’s going to be a drive that’s going to collapse, and It’s going to be an arm coming out.
“It’s going to come back to another penalty. Kick to touch, another drive. Then a yellow card comes out because they do it again.”
Smith added that the referee’s constant whistling led him to turn off a game – the Super Rugby Pacific match between the Highlanders and Western Force – to watch an animal documentary instead.
Shooting from the hip
Ahead of the crunch Super Rugby Pacific clash between the Blues and Crusaders this weekend, Moody was asked about Smith’s comments and did not mince his words.
“Argh, s***t! What a ridiculous thing to say,” said Moody.
“Lineout mauls are a great, great part of the game. [They are a] good challenge to lay down a yardstick for your forward pack.
“I’d hate to see it thrown out or reduced – you’ve got to keep it in there.
“Smithy’s a good man and has a lot of interesting views but I can’t say I align with this one.”
Crusaders forwards’ coach Dan Perrin echoed Moody’s sentiments and added that if you took the lineout throw away from the team that had the penalty, then there would be fewer tries.
“If they’re kicking for touch and not getting the ball back, I guess they’re taking penalty shots at goal,” he said.
“So, you take something away, and you find something else to complain about – not as many tries, teams would be kicking for goals – and that’s not exciting for the fans.”
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