Newsletter

Australia files complaint against French referee Mathieu Raynal

The Wallabies have still not digested the whistle of Mr. Raynal, who offered victory to the All Blacks in stoppage time last Saturday. The French referee will however officiate again for the revenge this Saturday.

Five days that Australian officials and media did not take off. Repeat their anger towards Mr. Raynal guilty, according to them, of having offered the victory to the All Blacks last Saturday by sanctioning the opener of the Wallabies, Bernard Foley, for saving time. A sanction at the origin of the victorious test of the New Zealanders in stoppage time (37-39). Wallabies coach Dave Rennie even invented a rule. The French referee should have given a young card to Foley but left the benefit of the penalty to his team…

Proof that this is not happening, Rugby Australia on Wednesday filed an official complaint with Rugby World to obtain an explanation from the governing body. The Australian federation no longer disputes the legitimacy of this decision but points to the fact that Mr. Raynal did not make the same decision towards the New Zealand opening half, Richie Mo’unga’a, who took 85 seconds to hit his penalty without being called to order in the 71e minute.

World Rugby is highly unlikely to rule Mr Raynal. The proof is, the French referee has been renewed and, as planned, will be part of the refereeing quartet for the revenge between the two teams, this Saturday (9 a.m.) in Auckland. This time he will be on the sidelines, in accordance with the usual rotation, the Irishman Andrew Brace taking the whistle this time. Frenchman Pierre Brousset will be the second linesman.

“It doesn’t matter if Mathieu Raynal is susceptible…”

Australian second row Jed Holloway

In a press conference, second-line Jed Holloway put pressure on Mr. Raynal. “We have to channel our frustration with this decision. We are still bitter about how we lost, but we have to do the right thing. We have to control what we can, no matter how touchy Mathieu Raynal is. If we play well for 80 minutes, I’m sure we’ll get a good result.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending