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'Shocker': Confusion among fans as Jordie Barrett's conversion controversially ruled out
By Sam Smith
Fans have taken to social media to express their confusion at a controversial call by the assistant referees that denied Jordie Barrett a conversion that appeared to be successful.
Barrett was attempting to convert Asafo Aumua's second try that brought the Hurricanes to within five points of the Blues with just over 15 minutes to play.
Lining the kick up from the left-hand touchline, Barrett nudged the ball towards the right-hand post before it seemingly curled back in through the uprights.
However, neither of the assistant referees, Mike Fraser and James Doleman, nor referee Paul Williams or TMO Brendon Pickerill picked up on the oversight, much to the dismay of Barrett, the commentators and the crowd at Wellington's Sky Stadium.
Numerous fans have taken to Twitter to express their outrage at the decision, with some describing it as "shocking" and "disgusting".
One fans joked that it "seems appropriate the touch judges are sponsored by spec savers", while others argued the officials got it right as the ball sailed over the top of the upright, which they believed meant it would have hit the post if it was lower.
Another Twitter user wondered if Hurricanes skipper Ardie Savea could have used his captain's call on the decision.
Respected rugby journalist and broadcaster Nigel Yalden, meanwhile, said the conversion should be awarded after the fact as the resulting play - a re-start back at halfway - is the same regardless of whether the conversion is successful or not.
In the end, though, the conversion wouldn't have made a difference, as the Blues ended up running out 31-16 winners after Rieko Ioane and Otere Black combined to score 10 points in the final five minutes.
Barrett was thrust into the limelight earlier in the match after he landed two monstrous penalty goals from near halfway to give the Hurricanes an 11-7 lead at half-time.
However, the Wellington franchise find themselves at the bottom of the standings, trailing the fourth-placed Highlanders on points difference.
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Latest Comments
Thats exactly the criticism Ed, that it has already been done for generations. A strong SA, in many respects, should certainly help African rugby develop. You'd have to think they'd acclimatize much better being drawn to a pro SA club than say a European. Hopefully the fact theyve gone private (is that right Graham?) should enable this sort of change.
Go to commentsPerofeta came back and was available for the eoyt right? Or was that why Love was in the squad (but got injured in the last week)?
It was such a frustrating year. Perofeta looked a service stop gap until Jordan was fit, but then got injured. Plummer was selected because of Pero's injury and dmac shat the bed in the second half in Australia but Clarke (?) got himself binned at the 65 min mark so Plummer couldn't come on (at least with the risk adverse Razors thinking) when he was planned to.
So many other exciting opportunities that could have happened without injuries, but then theyre probably balanced by knowing Sititi probably wouldn't have been given a chance without multiple injuries happened.
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