Blues coach Vern Cotter hits out at ‘cheating’ allegation

Blues coach Vern Cotter has staunchly rejected allegations his side attempted to “cheat” rugby’s laws in the dying minutes of Saturday’s dramatic win over the Hurricanes.

The Blues recorded their first victory of 2025, overcoming their north island rivals 33-29 in Wellington, but not before a farcical five-minute stoppage when the TMO and match doctor ruled on the substitution of replacement scrum-half Sam Nock.

The visitors originally attempted to replace Nock under a head injury assessment, which would have allowed starting halfback Finlay Christie to return. But the officials later ruled that there was no sign of a contact, and Nock was instead replaced by Corey Evans, leaving fullback Beauden Barrett to feed a scrum from which the Blues received a penalty.

The incident was later reviewed on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown on Sunday night, when former All Blacks star Mils Muliaina was asked whether the Blues had attempted to “cheat” the lawbook.

“If they were, they were illegally trying to break the rules; what coach doesn’t try and break the rules? It’s done all the time.”

While the discussion then turned to the length of time it took the officials to rule on the replacement, the suggestion that the Blues had attempted to game the system did not sit well with Cotter.

“First and foremost, let’s be really clear about it – rugby doesn’t need the insinuations that have come out following the incident, and people need to research the information fairly clearly before they start making them,” the Blues coach told reporters on Wednesday.

“That was just a head knock. Our doctor saw a knock and felt he (Nock) couldn’t stay on the field. We still had somebody else on the bench, and had to go through the process with the doctor. I think it’s all been outlined very clearly in media since through the commission and the competition.”

Cotter said that he had originally been told it was a head knock, hence the attempt to replace Nock with Christie, before the officials then further reviewed the incident and determined that that wasn’t the case.

“There were questions around the integrity of our doctor, and that’s a little upsetting. There was some clear straight-talking communication following that,” Cotter said of post-match discussions with competition officials

“We were communicated with it was a head knock, and through a head knock or foul play you can replace a player. So was it foul play or a head knock? Our doctor estimated it was a head knock, so we had to go through a process, we went through it, and when they reviewed the footage, some people changed their mind.”

Super Rugby Pacific has made a collective push to speed up its matches this season, with referees told to cut needless time wasting, around the setting of set-pieces in particular. That has helped to drive an entertaining first three weeks, as fatigue becomes a factor in the closing minutes of games.

But the extended stoppage certainly took the gloss of last weekend’s clash in Wellington, and Muliaina added it was imperative it was not repeated.

“In the heat of the battle this game was on edge,” Muliaina told The Breakdown. “There was so much in it, did we really need that… if we’re going to look at it, be a detective afterwards. We don’t need to waste five minutes and fans being a bit confused – and them fine them [if they have broken the rules]… if it the case that it is and they were caught cheating, be a detective after, then take the points off them and give the Hurricanes the win, if that’s the case.

“Don’t take 10 minutes when the [game’s] on a knife’s edge to come to a technicality that no one actually knows about.”

Source: espn.com