The Crusaders have rubbished suggestions from Lions coach Swys de Bruin that prop Joe Moody cheats at scrum time, as tempers flare ahead of Saturday night's Super Rugby final.
Speaking to South African media earlier in the week, de Bruin appealed to referee Angus Gardiner to scrutinise Moody, whom he perceived as getting away with blue murder.
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Crusaders assistant coach Jason Ryan has returned fire, praising Moody's credentials and identifying Lions prop Ruan Dreyer as the second-most penalised prop in Super Rugby.
"I have heard it all before and it always comes up just before, usually, when we name Joe Moody - just because he is the best in the world," Ryan said on Friday.
"We are going up against one of the most penalised tightheads [Dreyer] in Super Rugby for two years running.
"We have our plan, we know what we want to do. We just want to hit square and play channel one - that is what we have done all year."
It's nothing new for the Crusaders, who faced similar accusations in recent weeks from the Sharks and Hurricanes coaching staffs.
Ryan said that Moody intimidate opposition scrum coaches so they ultimately have to try a different tact to upset him.
Ryan said it wouldn't work.
"All I know that is when Joe is at his best, there are not may tighthead props, if any, that can hold him down.
"It is more than just Joe. We have to back that our strength as an eight will be good enough."
Gunning for back-to-back titles, Ryan acknowledged the Lions scrum was a major hurdle to overcome in their push for victory.
With the South African conference champions steamrolling the Waratahs at set-piece a week ago, Ryan said the Crusaders must respect what they had to offer.
"They are scrummaging well, they scrum a lot different to us.
"They have got a mindset to be destructive and keep the ball at the back of the scrum; scrum for a penalty, whereas it is not often something we do.
"That is their point of difference and we have our point of difference as well."
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