Wallabies prop Allan Alaalatoa has rubbished allegations from the Springboks they deliberately went to uncontested scrums in their second Rugby Championship clash in order to avoid scrummaging against the Boks’ highly touted “bomb squad”.

Off the back of their first TRC win since they downed South Africa in Adelaide in 2022, the Wallabies have been questioned by South Africa Rugby in regard to the legitimacy of the injuries to Alaalatoa, James Slipper and Angus Bell during their loss to the Springboks in Perth.

All three props were sidelined only minutes into the second half in Perth, with Slipper forced from the pitch after he had replaced Bell, who had suffered a cut around the eye, at halftime; Alaalatoa, meanwhile, also failed an HIA, which meant uncontested scrums were ruled for the remainder of the match.

Bell and Alaalatoa both featured in the Wallabies tight one-point 20-19 victory over the Pumas on Sunday morning AEST, while Slipper was unavailable for selection due to the arrival of his second child. Reports out of South Africa in recent days suggest SA Rugby has requested World Rugby investigate the injuries.

Facing the media via Zoom on Tuesday night [AEST], Alaalatoa was questioned if there was any legitimacy behind the SARU’s questioning.

“Do they think I was trying to fake an HIA or something?” Alaalatoa responded when asked about the report.

“Mate, we want to scrum. That’s what we want to do. Especially as front-rowers and that’s a game where you want to take on that challenge. You don’t want to shy away from that.

“We’re at a stage in our team where we want to keep growing and keep fronting up against the best, so you never want to shy away from that.”

The allegations were fuelled on South African rugby podcast The Verdict the week following the Springboks 30-12 win in Perth, with injured Boks’ lock Lood de Jager questioning the injuries alongside host and former centre Jean De Villiers, before the SARU made its request on Monday.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of that,” Alaalatoa said. “But what I do know is that if someone comes off injured, and then we have HIA like we did on the weekend for myself and Slips [Slipper], then my understanding is that they can’t return back to the field.

“I remember Joe [Schmidt] at the end of that game saying he’s never been a part of that game where things like that have happened, and I don’t think I have as well.

“That’s all I know.”

The Wallabies face the Pumas in their fourth TRC Test on Sunday morning [AEST] in Santa Fe.