Leaked sky cam footage reveals full extent of what Mathieu Raynal told Bernard Foley
Leaked sky cam footage with the full on-field audio has surfaced online which details exactly what referee Mathieu Raynal told Wallaby flyhalf Bernard Foley before one of test rugby's most controversial endings.
The video is a unique perspective which sheds light on why Raynal was prepared to call for a scrum to handover possession to the All Blacks with only a couple of minutes left in the test.
The audio shows the full exchange and how Raynal directed Foley to play the ball once he restarted the clock.
The Wallaby flyhalf mistakingly thought that time was off and as such was not time wasting.
"Play on please, we play," Raynal told Foley.
"We play. [Whistle blows]. Time off.
"We play. [Foley protests]. No, no.
"I will switch on the time, and we play now.
"[Whistle blows]. Time on."
After restarting the clock, Foley is hurried up by Raynal after five seconds who shouts "10!" then after more delay calls for an All Black scrum.
Foley tries to plead his case repeating "time if off, sir, time is off!" six or seven times after the scrum was awarded.
The misunderstanding by Foley did not fall in Australia's favour when the All Blacks scored the winning try moments later.
The new footage also shows both All Blacks players and Wallabies players with arms in the air frustrated with the delay, with other players aware of the warnings that had been issued by Raynal.
Foley's lack of awareness to the referee instructions was demonstrated when he tried to recall what had happened in his press conference the day after.
"There was a bit of confusion just in terms of personnel on the field for us, just trying to get a call, it was pretty loud in the stadium last night," Foley said.
"My conversation with him was that he told me to hurry up but that time was off. He didn't really mention that there was going to be any further action then starting the clock."
The new footage does in fact detail Raynal blowing the whistle and then declaring time back on much to Foley's surprise.
Had Foley just kicked the ball into touch and absolved his side of possession of the ball, the forwards could have milked more time off the clock walking to the lineout instead.
If they were called for delaying the game at the lineout, the All Blacks would have had possession much further up the field and would have been less likely to score a try.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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