All Black captain Richie McCaw has broken his
silence on French eye-gouging in the Rugby World Cup final and says the
game had turned "filthy" when it happened.
The International Rugby
Board did not cite French player Aurelien Rougerie despite video
footage showing him raking his fingers across McCaw's face. It is now
looking to extend the citing window past 36 hours after the match.
At
a breakfast fundraiser in Christchurch on Monday, McCaw said he was
"surprised" Rougerie was not cited and the final had become "filthy"
when he was eye-gouged, Fairfax NZ reported.
"The French are worse when they are scared ... They were as bad as they have been and were going for the eyes," he said.
McCaw said he felt "sheer relief" when the All Blacks won the closely fought final 8-7.
McCaw joked that all the unwritten rules about the William Webb Ellis Cup went out the window.
The cup is never supposed to be alone, no-one is allowed to drink out of it and no-one is allowed to drink near it.
"We broke every single one of them."
NZN