Authors of a fantastic comeback after a disastrous start to the second half, the Wallabies saw victory reach out to them.
They led by three points and had the opportunity, 30 seconds from the end, to quietly clear a penalty played by Bernard Foley.
But the latter took too long to kick the ball despite the calls to order from the referee, Mr. Raynal, who penalized him with a scrum in favor of the Blacks.
A twist of fate that allowed the New Zealanders to score the winning try (37-39 final score).
The Wallabies opener returned to this event this Friday with the
Sydney Morning Herald
.
"
There was a lot of confusion throughout the game
," he said.
“
I didn't try to slow down the game, I was just trying to be very clear and concise about what we were about to do and the touch to follow.
“ The referee's calls to order and the cries of his teammates had nevertheless given the alert, but Foley admits that the noise of the stadium did not help.
"
At the end there was a lot of noise in the stadium, but it was unimaginable to think that such a decision was going to be made
," he said.
Read alsoRugby: the Australians up against the French referee after their defeat against the All Blacks
“
He [the ref] told me to hurry up and stopped the clock, but he never told me he restarted it or there would be repercussions
,” Foley added.
Adding fuel to the fire of a growing controversy around this decision by Mr. Raynal, which Blacks coach Ian Foster deemed good.
“
It disappointed me that he was talking about it
” reacted the Australian opener.
The second match between the two teams, scheduled for September 24, promises to be hot…
