Sonny Bill Williams praises 'special' Crusaders but fans upset at sly dig

The Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title in a row at FMG Stadium over the in-form Chiefs but the home crowd was left feeling hard done by Ben O’Keeffe and the match officials.

Boos rang out around the ground from the Waikato crowd during the post-match presentations, something even Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan referred to in his post-match comments.

“I don’t want to bag the referee. The crowd did that at the end of the game, maybe that says something,” he told the media.

Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams, who represented both the Crusader and Chiefs during his career, also weighed in with an unfiltered view of the game and took aim at the referee.

Williams, who was a Super Rugby champion with the Chiefs, praised two ‘best ever’ Crusaders in Sam Whitelock and Richie Mo’unga in their last game’s for the club.

But the 37-year-old signed off with a dig towards O’Keeffe, saying the most influential man on the field ‘was not a player’, a reference to the whistle blower.

7 championships is special. What a way to send off the two best players I believe to have ever donned a Crusaders jersey in big Sammy and the uso Ritchie.

Only downside to what was a special contest was the most influential man on the field not being a player. #CHIvCRU…

— Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) June 24, 2023

Williams’ public expression of criticism was not well received by fans and media who did not like to see a former All Black blame the man in the middle.

Only downside I see is a former player of this stature coming out and blaming the ref.

Great match, Chiefs their own worst enemies. https://t.co/jy60g0wko8

— Dewi Preece (@DewiPreece1) June 24, 2023

Won't wear a BNZ logo but will publicly attack a referee? Weird moral code this one. https://t.co/9PGDVG8Fo8

— Mark Currie (@MarkCurrieNZ) June 24, 2023

The Chiefs ended up on the wrong side of a 15-6 penalty count and received three yellows at separate times, playing 30 minutes of the game down to 14 men.

Anton Lienert-Brown can consider himself somewhat lucky to only have recieved a yellow for his shot on Dallas McLeod as the tackle was cited following the game as being of the red card threshold.

But the biggest call that upset McMillan was a missed forward pass in the passage before Richie Mo’unga try which gave the visitors a 15-10 halftime lead.

“I honestly think the biggest call, momentum-swinger, was what I thought was a clear and obvious forward pass just before halftime,” he said.

“That gives us a scrum, we apply some pressure down that end of the field. [Instead], they score off the play after. That’s a big moment.”