Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

What did Garcès say to Poite?

Romain Poite (Photos by Getty Images)

The final moments of the third test were clouded in controversy, but who ultimately influenced the crucial decision that left players and pundits scratching their head?

ADVERTISEMENT

78th minute. 15-15. Penalty All Blacks. The game & series lie in the balance. Step forward inspector Poite and his trusted sidekick, Jérôme Garcès. The final call rests with Poite, but as the video below shows, his consultation with the TMO and initial decision were overturned during a very short stroll back to award an All Black penalty.

Regardless of where you stand on the call, it’s interesting that Poite appears to have been swayed by a quick chat with the linesman on the wrong side of the pitch. Jérôme Garcès.

Following a lengthy consultation with his TMO, Poite decides that the correct course of action is to award a penalty against Owens for accidental offside. Right or wrong, his conclusion is that a potentially match deciding penalty should be awarded against the Lions.

He begins to explain the decision to Read and Warburton, before he is interrupted by Garces on his headset. “Oui Jerome?” which I believe loosely translates to “Yes Jerome?” We can’t hear the short conversation, but it’s one sided. The outcome of the intervention is a reversal of Poite’s initial decision to award a penalty.

What did Garces say and why did it influence Poite’s decision? The “deal” as Poite describes it, leaves Read and the commentators bemused, while Warburton seems relieved as he signals a scrum.

Everyone will have their opinion, and there’s a case for Read being offside from the kick off or impeding Williams in the air. These are beside the point. The question I would love answered is what did Garces say to Poite and why did it influence his decision?

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT
LIVE

Whanganui vs The Classics

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | First Match | Full Match Replay

Did the Lions loosies get away with murder? And revisiting the Springboks lift | Whistle Watch

The First Test, Visiting The Great Barrier Reef & Poetry with Pierre | Ep 6: The Ultimate Test

KOKO Show | July 22nd | Full Throttle with Brisbane Test Review and Melbourne Preview

New Zealand v South Africa | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

USA vs England | Men's International | Full Match Replay

France v Argentina | World Rugby U20 Championship | Extended Highlights

Lions Share | Episode 4

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

J
JW 35 minutes ago
Half-back depth is the flaw in 'Razor's' 4-4-4 Rugby World Cup plan

Well there’s a couple of distinctions here that are important aren’t there?


First though like I replied to Tk where does it say theres need to test vets, or proven reliable players? It is simply ‘test quality’.


Now, I have created a list that I think is test quality, so all weve got to do is upskill the missing pieces right? No. Razor might not mean to have given every player half a dozen matchs but he will want to have identified and assured himself that each individual is indeed test quality. So yes, plays like Darry and Lord may still be included in a few squads and used so he’s happy to include them as say 5th and 6th ranked locks, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the same level to ensure for himself the 7th and 8th ranked locks.


He might be happy basing performances off SR Finals, or organizing an AB XV match against a team like France or SA with similar locking depth (even organizing say Warner Dearns to be part of the Japan XV etc), and I’m sure they’re going to have a very large squad over in South Africa for two months.


I don’t think he is quite in the same predicament as SA to have to rest top stars. And this is obviously just goal setting, they’re supposed to be hard. As you can see by the context around this series, arbitrary targets like everyone getting some minutes are made. That could also simply be how he ensures he has met the 4. So hookers would be ticked, as he’s already used 5 at test level. If you looked at the Baabaas SA game you’d see Beehre performing like an accomplished test player, that already makes 7 locks with more than 2 full seasons to go. You take the point BA was making about Marshalls previous remarks about Razor want players to be able to play 3/4/5 different positions, that would mean if Razor was really happy with Finau at lock last week he already has 8 test quality locks as well, etc, etc.


TLDR sorry for the big reply, it’s just a goal, the teams not going to suddenly fail if he doesn’t reach it, I think theres many means and many players for him to be comfortable in getting 4 in each position. He’s obviously not going to be able to get 4 proven, hardened test players in each by then, no.

135 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Fissler Confidential: All Black to give Falcons wings Fissler Confidential: All Black to give Falcons wings