Cape Town – Wallabies forwards have laughed off the complaints of Springboks coach Peter de Villiers that they deliberately cheat by collapsing scrums in the hope of ‘‘milking’’ penalties.

De Villiers infuriated the Australian team several days before Saturday’s Tri Nations Test at Newlands when he claimed the visitors were unnecessarily negative at the set piece. De Villiers said the Wallabies’ actions were aimed at bluffing the referee.

However, the Wallabies retaliated, saying De Villiers had exactly the same motivation and had made his comments only in the hope that the referee, Alain Rolland, would be distracted and focus on the Australians during the Test, providing a string of penalties for the Springboks.

When announcing the Springboks’ Test team, De Villiers continued the attack, by saying: ‘‘It’s a mindset of the Australians. The Wallabies would definitely rather give away a penalty than let you have the upper hand at the scrums. It makes a big difference on the day.’’

Wallabies loose-head prop Benn Robinson was especially peeved by De Villiers’ comments. He first attempted to avoid the debate, before saying: ‘‘I don’t understand why you would want to bring down a scrum. I enjoy scrummaging, and I certainly don’t go out there pulling down scrums. It’s no issue for us really.’’

The Wallabies most senior forward – second-rower Nathan Sharpe – mockingly said that De Villiers’ insinuation that they dropped scrums ‘‘didn’t work very well for us last game’’.

Sharpe was referring to the Wallabies pack being repeatedly penalised by South African referee Craig Joubert during the Test against the All Blacks in Auckland last month, when Australian tight-head prop Al Baxter was often in trouble for supposedly binding incorrectly in the scrum.

‘‘A lot of it comes down to interpretation of the referee, and unfortunately in Auckland we came out the wrong side of that,’’ Sharpe said. ‘‘I don’t think any team in the world would go out with those type of tactics because it is too hit and miss. The referees can see it any way they want. Certainly, giving away penalties as we did in Auckland is not going to help anyone’s cause. It’s an area we have addressed and we will get it right on the weekend.’’

De Villiers is clearly concerned about the improvement of the Australian pack, which has gradually become a considerable and threatening force. A sneaky way to attempt to nullify it is to publicly find fault with it, putting pressure on the Test referee to stifle its progress by heavily policing the opposition.

Springboks skipper and tight-head prop John Smit admitted that what was once a glaring weakness in the Australian game was now a considerable asset.

‘‘It’s an area where the Wallabies have stepped up a great deal over the last season and a half,’’ Smit said. ‘‘In the Super 14 this year, one of the most imposing scrums was the Waratahs, which is a large part of the Australian Test pack that is playing on Saturday. We’ve got some work to do this week. Also, I am sure they will produce a few surprise packages at lineout time.’’

De Villiers added he was as concerned that the Wallabies seemed to be better organised than the All Blacks, who have suffered a public backlash in New Zealand following two conclusive losses on South African soil.

‘‘There will be a lot of differences to the All Blacks, including that they [Australia] will keep the ball a lot longer,’’ De Villiers said. ‘‘They will be very patient in putting together phases, as they wait for holes to probe. At scrum and lineout time they pose a different challenge.’’

The Wallabies appear certain to follow the Springboks and select an unchanged starting line-up for the Test. The only alteration is expected among the reserves, with winger Peter Hynes scheduled to join the bench at the expense of a forward.