The heat has been squarely turned on referee Mathieu Raynal over the controversial finish to Thursday night’s Bledisloe Cup Test.
But vision shows Wallabies teammates also venting frustration towards Bernard Foley in the moments before and after the controversial, decisive penalty was awarded in the dying stages.
Raynal made the perplexing call to penalise Foley for time wasting as he kicked to touch for a Wallabies penalty, with the call allowing Jordie Barrett to score out wide and seal a 39-37 victory for the All Blacks.
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While the reaction has been fierce and the general consensus is that the call was farcical— especially at the late, critical stage of the game — it appears Wallabies players themselves were concerned Foley was taking too much time and was risking being punished.
Side-on vision shows teammates including Lalakai Foketi imploring Foley to take the kick and reacting furiously when the free kick is given against Australia.
Audio reveals the dicussion between Raynal and Foley before and after the incident, with claims just 39 seconds had elapsed between then the penalty was given to when Foley was pinged.
The referee was said to have given Foley several warnings then gave Foley a call of “ten” before blowing the free kick while the playmaker was in the motion of taking his kick.
In explaining the call to Wallabies skipper Nic White on the field, Raynal said:
“I said first, we are playing, OK? Then I switch off the time . I switch on the time and I say to your player, I switch on the time and you play immediately and he waits and he waits and he waits … so that’s a scrum to the All Blacks.”
Some pundits believed Foley was given sufficient warning the it was the right call.
