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All Blacks and Wallabies coaches disagree on Sam Whitelock's 'peculiar' try
While the margin in the second Bledisloe Cup match of 2022 meant there was little chance of too much refereeing controversy after the game, at least compared to last week’s showdown in Melbourne, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a point of contention among the two coaches.
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With the All Blacks in the lead 17-0 at halftime, a try to Sam Whitelock almost immediately after the break effectively ended any chance of a Wallabies comeback.
After some repeated assaults on the goal line, the All Blacks captain eventually crashed his way over the line but it appeared that he may have lost the ball over the chalk with replacement Wallabies prop Angus Bell trying his best to disrupt.
Referee Andrew Brace awarded the try and although he referred it upstairs to the TMO, there was no conclusive evidence that Whitelock had ceded possession.
Speaking to media after the match, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie indicated he was far from convinced that Whitelock had got the ball down – but also suggested it wasn’t a major factor in the comprehensive 40-14 result.
“It looked dodgy to me but the ref called a try on the field, they couldn’t see anything to overrule it,” Rennie said. “Not convinced it was a defining moment.”
All Blacks coach Ian Foster took a different view:
“I don’t think they could believe that old gadget arms could hold onto the ball and the different angles he had it at – and he did,” Foster said. “So, to be fair to the ref and the TMO, it looked a little bit peculiar, didn’t it? But the big mitt hung onto the ball.”
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Whitelock himself said that although he “got caught in a tricky situation”, he had grounded the ball.
Despite Rennie’s reservations about the Whitelock try, he acknowledged that it’s a challenging time to be a referee at present and reaffirmed that the issues the Wallabies had on Saturday night were entirely of their own making.
“I just reckon it’s such a tough game to referee at the moment,” he said. “The game takes forever to play because you have a TMO chipping in as well. It’s messy, isn’t it? It’s not a great product.
“Look, you’ve just got to take it on the chin. We weren’t good enough tonight and we’re not looking to blame the officials.”
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The All Blacks and Wallabies will now both take a few weeks break before departing on their trips north.
Not clear cut, but Whitelock's big mit had the ball by the point, and he managed to put the ball on ground - the guy must be triple jointed - but amazing control - and yes it was Whitelock you can see the wristband
The Aussies are a crying baby, always blame others. Never except that they cannot beat the AB now or ever if their mentality of the coaching staff and players remained like this. They should focus on their own discipline rather than picking on a little thing and refrees. The Wallabies is the most penalised team and has more people sent to Sin Bin than any other team in this tournament. They played dirty and hope to get away with it. Just lokk at the first game between them and the Boks. Nick Wright should be sent to Sun Bin for his action. He repeatedly kept complaining to the Ref. without cause he on the last game and everyone in the stadium as well as on TV could hear the Ref. said that if you keep doing it again, I will send you back to the bench. It is up to you, it is your choice. It is so disgrace.
Rubbish, the Ausie coach in this game just wants to be a cry baby.
Always critical on his team loss
Cleary a try - unusual but easy to award
In American football you get one bad call every 5 or so games. In rugby there are multiple arguable calls every game. Didnt watch the All Blacks game but in the Bok game I think there were more than 40 penalties and 5 yellow cards. Many bad calls on both sides of the ball. There are too many grey areas in the rule book and too many laws. Rugby will die if the ref is such a focus after every game.
“Aww shucks” Foster with another goofy humdinger.
It’s not even worthy of discussion. Whitelock’s hand was on the ball, and he scored the try.