All Blacks: Scott Robertson’s verdict on controversial Springboks try
All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson.
All Blacks coach Scott Robertson opted not to question the validity of one of the Springboks’ tries scored in their 31-27 win during Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test in Johannesburg.
New Zealand raced into an early 7-0 lead at Ellis Park after Codie Taylor crossed for a converted try in the sixth minute but South Africa responded when fellow hooker Bongi Mbonambi crossed the whitewash 10 minutes later.
Mbonambi lost control of the ball but try stood
However, television replays revealed that Mbonambi lost control of the ball on the try-line after a tackle from Jordie Barrett but neither referee Andrew Brace nor his TMO Brian MacNeice checked on it and the try stood.
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett remonstrated with Brace afterwards but to no avail and Boks fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was timed out by the shot clock while taking the conversion which meant the visitors held a slender 7-5 lead at the time.
After the match, Robertson was questioned regarding the controversial incident but would not give his opinion.
“Maybe?” he told reporters. “Pardon… just checking if it was a try or not.
“Look, I saw what you saw… we saw what you saw. We can’t say any more, it’s a dangerous area if you start talking about referees and stuff.”
Springboks leave it late to down All Blacks in epic Ellis Park showdown
Top Dawg scores!!!! 🐶 #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/VFmim7wSmD
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Despite that try being allowed, the All Blacks dominated most of the match and held a 27-17 lead before their discipline let them down in the game’s latter stages and the Boks sealed their win courtesy of tries from replacements Kwagga Smith and Grant Williams in the final quarter.
Shortly before Smith’s five-pointer, New Zealand were reduced to 14 players when replacement prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi received a yellow card for a cynical defensive foul close to his try-line.
“I am so proud of the effort and the way we defended, it was just a little bit of ill-discipline by the lads that cost us,” said Robertson.
‘Fine margins in Test footy’
“But those are the fine margins in Test footy. Some of the penalties were down to a bit of interpretation, but those small moments lead to a bit of momentum and the game changes.
“We still had opportunities to win the game, we have just got to execute better. Ellis Park is a hell of an arena – what an atmosphere tonight and the crowd really gets involved.
“But that is where we thrive, we love those moments.”
