The Wallabies will attempt to harness the pain of their controversial Bledisloe Cup defeat in Melbourne – and confidence gained from a rousing second-half comeback – to bring an end to the long-running drought at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
Keen to move on from the contentious time-wasting call of referee Mathieu Raynal in the 80th minute at Marvel Stadium, Wallabies vice-captain Allan Ala’alatoa said the team had reviewed their failings in the dying moments and would take steps to ensure they can take the referee out of the equation in the future.
Ala’alatoa and centre Lalakai Foketi also sought to publicly back No.10 Bernard Foley, who was the player penalised by Raynal for not kicking the ball “without delay”. The pair said Foley’s calm words behind the posts after they’d gone down 31-13 was the reason they were leading 37-34 in the last minute.
“You could tell he was down [post-match] and disappointed with the result, but there was no need for him to apologise to us,” Foketi said.
“We all thought he had a great game and he was one of the main reasons we had an opportunity there to compete for the win. We back ‘Nardy’ [Foley], and everyone in here, 100 per cent.”
Allan Ala’alatoa and the Wallabies forwards in Melbourne, with halfback Nic White.Credit:Getty
Foketi also explained his animated actions in the last minute, given vision of him screaming at Foley has spun around the world, and been used as evidence by those who back Raynal’s decision.
“To show the character within the lads, and to come back from a few points down and to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game in those last couple of minutes … it was awesome and with the emotion, with the videos that have come out of me, I thought we gave ourselves an opportunity to win,” Foketi said.
“Once that whistle was blown, it gave them a sniff back to take victory.”
Rugby Australia have played down reports of having submitted a formal complaint to World Rugby about Raynal’s decision, but expressed wider concerns to headquarters in Dublin about officiating in the current game.
The Wallabies used regular channels to World Rugby’s refereeing office to seek an explanation for Raynal’s call.
Chaos … Raynal at the centre of the action after his controversial call.Credit:Getty
Ala’alatoa said senior players and staff reviewed the moment on Sunday and took lessons.
“We can only control what we can control and you have to take the ref’s decision out of it. From our perspective as leaders, we have to look at that moment about how we can be better,” Ala’alatoa said.
“One is getting a clear call, and executing it straight away. That was the big two learning points from that scenario at the end if that game.”
The players are now ready for possibility a referee will make a game-defining call out of the blue in the last minute.
“That’s our learning from that game as well. I have never been part of a rugby game where that’s happened, before. But now we have learned that, in the process of making those decisions, we need to be better,” Ala’alatoa said.
The Wallabies haven’t won at Eden Park since 1986 and while hope springs anew each year, the same result eventuates. The extraordinary scenes at Marvel Stadium bring a new motivation to the equation.
“The feeling within the players was that we played a great game. We showed a lot of character and connection to work ourselves back into that game,” Ala’alatoa said.
“You look at the game and all the boys and everyone in the environment is disappointed and we just have to harness that and take that to New Zealand.
“The boys are hurting and you can see that. Not only the boys but the staff as well. We just have to make sure we channel that in the right direction. We have to got to be clinical with the way we play.”
The Wallabies will be without Rob Leota, however, who has suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and will be out for the rest of the year.
Watch every match of The Rugby Championship on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
