Kitshoff sidesteps Aussie 'gamesmanship' poser

Veteran prop Steven Kitshoff did his best to sidestep a question on how come the Wallabies seem to get away with gamesmanship in their matches against the Springboks in Australia.

Kitshoff twisted himself in knots to try not to offend Saturday’s opponents, as he addressed the gamesmanship that seems to favour the home side in every single outing between the two sides down under and why the Springboks seem to react so badly to it every single time.

“How can I say this the right way? We want to play the game inside the law book, with as much aggression, power, and speed as possible,” Kitshoff told media.

“We never look for shortcuts in any way. When games are played, you are trying to get the upper hand as much as possible.

“It all comes down to the referee’s interpretation and the way the ARs are seeing the game. I don’t want to comment on them getting away with certain tricks or tactics.

“We just want to play a great test match.”

Fans were incensed at a number of incidents the Wallabies got away with during the win, including an oscar-worthy cringe performance by scrumhalf Nic White after his opposite number Faf de Klerk tried to slap the ball out of his hands and missed, connecting with his face, that cost a yellow card.

The Boks are clearly more focused on rectifying their own game and the 13 visits to the 22m area that didn’t bring reward, and want to focus on their own game.

And Kitshoff made it clear they weren’t looking to move away from their maul platform anytime soon.

“The big thing for us with mauls is that it is creating a platform to either strike from, kick from or gain points,” he explained.

“Looking back at this weekend’s game, even though the maul didn’t get a lot of momentum, we still got six penalty advantages that we could play from.

“In my opinion, I still feel the maul is a big weapon and a big part of the fundamentals of rugby.

“Even though it doesn’t look like you are gaining 10 to 20 metres, you are still actually creating an opportunity to score three points or getting a free play under a penalty advantage.”

The Boks will be looking for more finishing power after their 13 visits to the Wallaby 22 didn’t give them the reward they wanted.

Australia will name their side on Thursday for the clash.