Hendrik Cronjé

Bloemfontein – Richie McCaw admitted on Wednesday that he had operated outside the laws of the game against the Springboks on several occasions, but said that it’s all part of rugby.

The All Black captain was penalised five times against the Springboks in Wellington according to website ruggastats.com. This infuriated coach Peter de Villiers and a number of his senior players.

Irishman Alain Rolland was the referee who failed to punish McCaw with a yellow card for his transgressions at the breakdown and will again be the referee when the Boks play the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on August 28.

“I made a few mistakes. I think the important thing is to know what you will get away with. But I undoubtedly made mistakes,” said McCaw.

He says he will continue playing his way as long as it does not place pressure on the team.

McCaw also admitted prior to Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne that he was fortunate not to concede more penalties in Wellington.

He said he would be wary of South African referee Craig Joubert in the weekend’s match against Australia.

McCaw and his counterpart from the Wallabies, David Pocock, nevertheless showed that there is still place for fetching flanks in the mould of Heinrich Brüssow in Test rugby irrespective of law changes.

Brüssow looks set to be available to join the Boks on their end-of-season tour to Europe.

McCaw also noted that Pocock had frustrated the Boks a lot at the breakdowns.

“He had a big impact there. The Springboks were also not as accurate as they would have liked to be,” said McCaw.

Pocock was penalised three times according to ruggastats.com.