Kafer’s claim a low blow: ABS

The Bledisloe must be alive. The off-field mind games certainly are, with the All Blacks forced to deny Australian accusations they deliberately targeted Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper with illegal tactics in last Saturday’s shock defeat in Perth.

Former Wallaby and now Fox Sports analyst Rod Kafer levelled direct accusations at the All Blacks in the wake of the test which saw All Blacks lock Scott Barrett red-carded for a shoulder to the head area of the Australian openside and Ardie Savea also indulged in an off-the-ball incident where he pushed Hooper’s head into the ground.

The Wallabies made the most of their second-half numerical advantage to explode to a record 47-26 victory that leaves them a victory at Eden Park on Saturday away from holding the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002.

Barrett has subsequently been suspended from rugby for three weeks for his illegal act and will miss Saturday night’s return Bledisloe as part of that.

‘‘This was a deliberate act, attacking a player’s head with a shoulder and elbow in a vulnerable position,’’ Kafer told the Fox Sports website. ‘‘No question, it’s a red card.

‘‘You go into games trying to unsettle the leaders of an opposition team, it’s pretty standard.

‘‘It didn’t surprise me to see those two illegal acts on the Wallaby captain — it may well have been part of the tactic going into the game.’’

But All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster emphatically denied Kafer’s claims and said he hoped the former Wallaby would realise the folly of what he had said.

‘‘The answer is no, it wasn’t, and that’s probably all I’ll say,’’ said Foster when asked whether attacking Hooper was an All Black tactic. ‘‘Rod is a very smart man and I’m a little bit surprised he said it.’’

Asked if it was a shot at the integrity of the All Blacks, Foster chose his words carefully.

‘‘I’ve got no feeling about that whatsoever. To be fair people can say whatever they like, it doesn’t change the truth which is we didn’t [target Hooper].

‘‘I’m sure Rod will sit down one night, have a cup of tea and think that maybe it wasn’t quite the truth after all.’’

Senior All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock also denied that there had been a pre-planned approach to unsettle Hooper.

‘‘That’s his opinion. But I’ve never been involved in talking about or setting anything up like that. Obviously I’m a little bit hurt hearing someone say that. But that’s his opinion and he’s entitled to say that.’’

It was interesting that the All Blacks made a significant backtrack on suggestions they had been the victims of unsavoury tactics at the breakdown in Perth, including neck rolls and illegal entries.

On Monday flanker Sam Cane acknowledged some untoward acts had taken place but by yesterday Foster had clearly decided it was not worth pursuing in the public arena.

‘‘I’m just focused on this week,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s no point in us highlighting anything else. We’ve been found guilty of something, and we’ll just take our medicine on that.’’

With the All Blacks acknowledging they were outpassioned by the Wallabies and pledging to match their physicality this week, Foster was asked whether the players had to be reminded about the fine line they trod in this area.

‘‘We don’t have to remind the guys at all,’’ he responded. ‘‘Everyone knows what physicality means in the game. It’s one of the beauties of rugby – it’s a tough, physical game but there are boundaries. We don’t want anyone to cross that line.

‘‘We lost the physical battle against Australia, so forget about all the other little things we’re talking about here. We lost the physical battle and we’ve got to be better at that.’’