Assistant coach Neil Barnes criticised some of English referee Karl Dickson’s calls after the All Blacks’ 43-28 loss to the Springboks in Baltimore on Saturday.
The world champions completed a 3-1 series victory, but Barnes felt several tight decisions went against New Zealand at crucial stages.
He was particularly frustrated by two early scrum calls against All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor for failing to maintain his brake foot.
Under the law, a hooker must keep one foot forward in the middle of the tunnel while the scrum sets, with Taylor ruled to have withdrawn his too early.
“We get two penalties against us at the start of the game for a brake foot, which no one really gives a s**t about, but the referees are concentrating on,” Barnes told Newstalk ZB.
“And when you look at the video, both teams have done exactly the same thing at the same time. There’s two penalties against us.
“So, I guess at the end of the day, there’s a perception there that [the Springboks] are the dominant team, but at the moment they’re getting the rub of the green.
“When that changes, we’ll have a fair go.”
Barnes also suggested the frequency of penalties prevented the All Blacks from maintaining the tempo they wanted.
“We’ve got to be in a position where we can actually control the game for longer with the speed of it to fatigue them more.
“Every time they keep getting penalties for bugger all and get to slow the game down, it brings them back into it.”
RASSIE: This is why we play rugby
While conceding the Boks were the better side, Barnes insists the 3-1 series scoreline disguises how little separates the two teams.
“The more I reflect, the more I know we’re seriously close to them,” he said.
“Probably just not getting the rub of the green or getting a lot of luck in close moments at the moment.
CODIE: Boks just a bloody good side
“Clearly they’re probably, fair to say, the better team tonight. But holy heck, there’s a couple of moments swinging with about 20 minutes to go where two or three times in a row we’ve come out on the wrong side of a close call which let them skip away from us a little bit.”
Photo: Caean Couto/Getty Images
The post ‘Boks got penalties for bugger all’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Assistant coach Neil Barnes criticised some of English referee Karl Dickson’s calls after the All Blacks’ 43-28 loss to the Springboks in Baltimore on Saturday.
The post ‘Boks got penalties for bugger all’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
