Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'We know it's a penalty' - TJ Perenara rues season-ending refereeing blunder in Super Rugby semi-final

TJ Perenara. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Star Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara believes his side were on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle after a last-minute error by match official Nic Berry during their semi-final clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch cost the Wellington franchise a spot in next week’s Super Rugby final.

ADVERTISEMENT

Berry pinged Perenara in the closing stages of the match for what he believed to be a knock on as the Hurricanes, who trailed 30-26, ventured into the Crusaders’ 22 metre mark in search of what would have been a match-winning try.

However, replays show that the ball was swatted loose from Perenara’s grasp by Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock, who forced the ball out of his All Blacks teammate’s hands as he competed at the breakdown.

If the play was picked up on by Berry or his assistants, Whitelock and the Crusaders would have been penalised, but the Crusaders were instead handed a scrum feed, which they used to close out the contest and book a meeting with the Jaguares at Orangetheory Stadium next Saturday.

“I guess it was pretty clear and obvious,” Perenara told reporters in the aftermath of the match.

“We all probably know, we have seen it.

“We know it’s a penalty. The ref can’t see everything. He makes a call, and calls it a knock on.

“Sometimes we expect a penalty, there, for a deliberate knock down; but it is what it is in a game of footy.”

Hurricanes head coach John Plumtree was similarly disappointed by Berry’s decision.

“Yeah, look, we all saw it from the big screen. So, yeah … anyway,” he said when asked if he thought his side deserved a penalty in the final minute and a half of the match.

It was a controversial way to end such an enthralling encounter, with the Hurricanes putting immense pressure on the reigning champions throughout the clash.

ADVERTISEMENT

Trailing just 13-7 at half-time, the Hurricanes came out firing in the second half, with Ben Lam, Ngani Laumape and Perenara all dotting down as the Crusaders’ defence was stretched in ways that hadn’t been seen in Christchurch all year until Saturday night.

Perenara, Laumape and Beauden Barrett were all outstanding for the makeshift Hurricanes side, which had to deal with two late backline changes, as Matt Proctor and Jonah Lowe came into the starting side for Peter Umaga-Jensen and Salesi Rayasi at the 11th hour.

As for the Crusaders, the likes of Richie Mo’unga and Sevu Reece continued to shine, as they have done all season, and now just one match and six days stands between them and a second-ever hat-trick of Super Rugby crowns.

Watch – Scott Robertson post-match press conference:

ADVERTISEMENT

Video Spacer

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

F
Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ The joy, spirit and obstacles of the rugby pilgrim The joy, spirit and obstacles of the rugby pilgrim
Search