It’s not just the French XV who have badly digested their defeat by a small point against South Africa. Beaten in the final by the smallest of margins (11-12) last Saturday, New Zealand asked World Rugby, the referring body for world rugby and responsible for the World Cup, for explanations concerning the refereeing of the final.
“We have sent a number of files to World Rugby for some comment. Hopefully they will,” announced All Blacks coach Ian Foster in front of an audience of New Zealand journalists. The boss of the XV de la Fougère, however, refused to discuss the contentious actions to which these files alluded. “Oh, I think you can guess them,” he quipped quickly, without saying more.
In the final, referee Wayne Barnes issued a red card to Blacks captain Sam Cane after a dangerous high tackle in the 29th minute, following the intervention of the video assistance and the bunker. In the second period, Siya Kolisi, his counterpart on the Springboks side, received a simple yellow card for a likely similar action. The video referees, also after using the bunker, judged that the South African benefited from “mitigating circumstances”.
It nearly ended in a fairytale for Ian Foster but now Scott Robertson will pick up the pieces. ✍️ Adam Julian looks at what the All Blacks may look like moving forward. https://t.co/p0UiBS7QNL
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 31, 2023
It was Ian Foster’s final match as All Blacks coach, with Scott Robertson already announced to take over. Before receiving a potential response from World Rugby, the coach must still take stock of his performance at the head of the national team. “It probably won’t be done officially (with the players). It will certainly be me and my staff,” he announced. But will they talk about arbitration?
