Two-time World Cup-winning Wallaby Tim Horan has labelled Mathieu Raynal’s last minute decision a “disgrace”, as the French referee made one of the most perplexing calls in the history of international.
After tailing 31-13, the Wallabies hit the lead in the 77th minute against the All Blacks and soon after won a penalty on their own line which looked like being the match-sealing moment.
But seconds later, as Bernard Foley started his kicking motion for the touchline, Raynal blew his whistle and awarded a free kick to the All Blacks for saying the Wallabies playmaker had taken too long.
Despite the pleas of the Wallabies halves, including acting captain Nic White, the free kick stood and moments later Jordie Barrett scored out wide to seal a remarkable and controversial 39-37 victory for the All Blacks.
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The Wallabies, including coach Dave Rennie, were left stunned by the decision.
“I haven’t seen a decision like that at any level,” he said.
Asked whether he knew the law, Rennie said he had never seen it officiated.
“The rule book’s complex, isn’t it,” he said.
“There’s surely something in there somewhere (but) that is never reffed upon.
“It’s incredibly disappointing way to finish because down 31-13, down to 13 players, (we) showed a huge amount of character to come back into that game and then get our nose in front. So to lose it, in that fashion, massively disappointing.”
All Blacks coach Ian Foster saw it from a different perspective, saying the decision was “clean cut”.
“I thought it was very clear cut,” Foster told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“They were delaying the kick. He said time off.
“He warned him then he said time off and then he said to speed up then he said time on. Then he asked him twice to kick it.
“I understand there is a contentious nature about it but it was very clear cut from the opposition.
“The other one that wasn’t clear cut was when Kellaway and the TMO wanted to look at what was a very suspicious forward pass and yet the conversion was allowed to be taken.”
But deputy Sam Whitelock, who captained the side after Same Cane left the field early, said he had not seen a decision like it.
“I haven’t had that happen to me in a game whether for or against the side I’m playing for,” he said.
“You’ve got to make sure you’ve got a good plan to close out the game whether you’re up by one point or by more.
“Slips (James Slipper) and I have known each other for a long time and he said ‘look, we’ve just got to be better than that’ and he’s spot on.
“It’s something that I know that they will review and look at it and they’ll make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Horan, however, was left livid at the decision.
“I’ve been commentating for over 20 years, I thought it was a disgraceful decision by the referee and I thought he cracked under pressure,” Horan told Stan Sport.
“I reckon you could have another 15 referees, big referees for World Rugby, that would have taken that calmly and wouldn’t have got overhauled by the experience.
“Ninety seconds left in the game, and he cracked under pressure in one of the biggest moments, one the biggest games here in Australia, it was a disgraceful decision and World Rugby need to look at it.”
Foley, who was playing his first Test since 2019, was left shell-shocked and argued that Raynal had blown time off — a factor the referee accepted, before adding that he blew time on, too.
“We were understanding the lineout call,” Foley told Stan Sport.
“The ref said time off and he sped it up.
“It’s just disappointing how great a game was and yet we’re talking about the referee.”
Horan added: “You’ve got 50,000 people here, so Bernard Foley is trying to hear whether there’s time or time off, but the big referees make decisions at that late part of the game and they’re calm about it.
“I just thought it was a disgraceful decision and everyone in the stadium, everyone watching, probably thinks the same thing.”
The respected rugby voice was not alone in his anger, with social media erupting following the game-changing moment.
