Waikato Chiefs coach Dave Rennie yesterday angrily denied cheating in the dying minutes of his side’s nail-biting Super Rugby win over the Wellington 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 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 showing Tokolahi apparently running freely from a scrum and a lineout 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 am bloody angry, because they are challenging our integrity,” he told Radio Sport. “We have got two injured tighthead props and that forced us to go down to 14 players... It happens, you do not 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 is such a rarity. I have had 78 games in charge of the Chiefs and it is the first time we have gone to golden oldie [uncontested] scrums,” he said.
Tokolahi has been named on the bench for today’s match against the Coastal 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,” Rennie said.
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