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The Highlanders 30-14 win over the Hurricanes swung on a pivotal moment at the end of the first half, when the Hurricanes were denied a try under the posts to Jordie Barrett due to potential foul play.
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Holding a 5-3 lead, the try was called back due to an alleged punch by Hurricanes winger Julian Savea who took exception to a swinging arm by Liam Squire on the previous phase. Squire was sent off for the incident but Savea escaped punishment due to the ‘lack of footage’ of the punch.
The Highlanders received a penalty and subsequently scored a crucial try to take the lead heading into the half. In a puzzling series of events, Squire now faces the possibility of being suspended for the upcoming June tests against France while fans are left questioning how Savea escaped punishment.
Despite claiming no video evidence, the high shots and even some close-ups clearly show Savea clocking back a fist and thrusting it into the ruck. Whether he connected or not is unknown but it seems clear a punch was thrown.
World Rugby Law 10.4 states that “a player must not strike an opponent with the fist or arm,” resulting in the sanction of a penalty kick. It looks as though Savea not only contravened this part of the law, he also broke the law in regards to retaliation.
This law states “a player must not retaliate. Even if an opponent is infringing the Laws, a player must not do anything that is dangerous to the opponent.”
Interim Highlanders coach Mark Hammett concurred that the connection from Savea’s thrown punch wasn’t clear.
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“It was difficult to see whether the shot was high, and there was no clear evidence of any of the shots we saw that [Savea] threw a punch. It looked like he threw a punch, but there was no evidence of a hit.
“I think probably in the end it was the right decision.”
We will have to wait and see if the citing commissioner agrees with Hammett.
In other news:
