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New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said his side accepted the controversial refereeing call that saw their series with the British and Irish Lions end in a draw, but went on to question the process that led to Romain Poite changing his initial decision.
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After Owen Farrell had levelled the score at 15-15 with a 78th-minute penalty, the All Blacks looked set to be given a chance to claim victory when referee Poite awarded a penalty to the hosts from the restart.
However, after consulting the television match official and his touch judges, Poite ultimately decided that Lions hooker Ken Owens was accidentally offside when collecting a knock-on from full-back Liam Williams, meaning New Zealand were only granted a scrum rather than the opportunity to kick at goal.
“It’s a tough game to ref. We all know what happened and what should have happened,” said Hansen in his post-match news conference.
“But as little kids you are told to take the good with the bad. We are accepting over decisions that are made. It is a decision the ref has made and we will live with it.”
Hansen added: “They used the video and had a pow-wow. The ref’s initial instincts were that it was a penalty, then he spoke to his team of three and one suggested it was accidental. It is what is.
“There’s too many avenues that you can go down, but that’s not the ref’s fault, that’s the rulebook. People that are running the game need to ask themselves do we need to make it simpler. My answer to that would be yes. Tomorrow would be great.”
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In an apparent reference to New Zealand spurning several excellent opportunities to add to Ngani Laumape and Jordie Barrett’s first-half scores, Hansen said: “If we had scored another try ourselves it wouldn’t have been such a problem. We can’t control the refs.”
On the drawn series, he added: “We’ve ended up with a hand on the trophy each, which is a little bit like kissing your sister. There’s not a lot in it for anybody.”
