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Wallabies reveal World Rugby response to controversial Raynal call
By AAP
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has lit the fuse ahead of this Saturday’s Rugby Championship finale in Auckland, saying World Rugby conceded a crunch time-wasting call in the opening Bledisloe Cup loss by referee Mathieu Raynal was wrong. In a now infamous decision, referee Raynal pinged Bernard Foley for timewasting in the dying stages of Australia's 39-37 loss in Melbourne.
The decision devastated Wallabies fans, divided the sport and sparked a war of words between Rennie and All Blacks coach Ian Foster, who called it "very clear cut".
Rennie said a 'please explain' issued to World Rugby after the Test produced a concession the Wallabies playmaker was harshly treated. "They agreed with our concerns," Rennie said.
While Nic White gave voice to the Wallabies' heartache at the time, telling Raynal, "Mate, that just cost us the Rugby Championship", Rennie said it was on his players to now turn the page.
"We sought a bit of clarity. We have got that. It's not going to help us win on the weekend," he said. "We have decided to take it on the chin and move on."
Rugby Australia had written to the sport’s global governing body earlier this week voicing its concerns about refereeing given the late and questionable time-wasting call with the match in the balance last Thursday. French referee Raynal penalised Foley for holding up the game as the Wallabies five-eighth shaped to kick the ball to touch with less than two minutes left.
Australi were left fuming at the decision, after which Jordie Barrett scored a try from a New Zealand scrum five metres in front of the posts to snatch victory. A Rugby Australia spokesperson on Monday confirmed to Reuters they had urged World Rugby to take seriously concerns about officiating in general. “We have been lobbying World Rugby for some time on this,” the spokesperson said.
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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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