New Zealand's Tana Umaga has broken his silence following the tackle that ruled Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll out of the tour with a dislocated shoulder. The All Black skipper and Keven Mealamu went in hard on the Irish centre in the opening stages but were not punished.
"It's too late for explanations now. Everyone's got their own ideas. I could explain it but what would that achieve?
"I don't try to do things through the media. We will try to make contact and when we do, we will," Umaga said.
The Lions described the incident at a ruck as a double spear tackle and a fuming O'Driscoll, who said it was a "cheap shot", has attempted to seek an apology but his rival has yet to return his phone call.
O'Driscoll and Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward have also been incensed by the lack of action against the All Black pair after the citing commissoner decided there was no case to answer.
 |  It was an unfortunate incident - just one of those things |
Umaga has also been widely criticised for not going over to express any concern towards his opposite number at the time - a charge he answered by saying his number one responsibility in any match is his own players.
"It was obviously dealt with by the people that had to deal with it and I felt that that was the end of it other than maybe having a word with Brian himself person to person," Umaga added.
"I've never had the opportunity to do that but who knows that might happen."
"At that stage I had to try and keep (the team) together. It was such a lengthy period, we had to sort some things out that worked for us.
"First and foremost my allegiance is to the All Blacks, that's just the way it is."
While the incident remains headline news in Britain and Ireland, the matter has long been passed over in New Zealand as attention turns to Saturday's second Test in Wellington.
However, International Rugby Board chairman Syd Millar said O'Driscoll's injury highlighted a serious problem as he believed rugby had become more dangerous with teams bending the rules at cleanouts.
"It's not part of rugby to be taking people out off the ball. It's dangerous, the guy's not expecting (it), it shouldn't be part of rugby," he said.
And he added that teams were training to take players out further off the ball than the law allowed, but were getting away with it because of lax interpretation by referees.
"They (referees) make the point it's very difficult to watch that when they're watching the ball and the tackle," he added.
"We have to ensure that the referees apply the law. And if they need some help, then perhaps the touch judges may take a bigger part."
MMIX
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