France refereed like a ‘small nation’ as Fabien Galthie slams lack of ‘neutrality’ in All Blacks series
France head coach Fabien Galthie and an inset of Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane after an All Blacks try.
France head coach Fabien Galthie does not feel as though his team has been fairly officiated during the Test series against the All Blacks.
The Les Bleus boss aired his grievances after naming his matchday squad for the third and final Test match between the two sides this weekend.
The former scrum-half believes that Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane should have been yellow-carded in the second Test between the two sides in Wellington.
Scott Robertson’s All Blacks would charge to a 43-17 victory to go 2-0 up and clinch the series, and while Galthie says that he isn’t angered by the results, his expectations of the level of officiating were not met.
Fabien Galthie hits out at officials
He claims that New Zealand has benefited from being the home team and that France are being officiated ‘like a small nation’.
“I have a meeting with the referee [Angus Gardner] tonight. We need the scrum and the ball carries to be officiated correctly,” he told reporters.
“I don’t usually dwell on refereeing, but when I have expectations, I share them.
“Clearly, we need to be officiated as if we were playing on neutral ground. Neutrality.”
He went on to pinpoint two decisions where he felt his team were hard done by in the defeat to New Zealand last week.
“Clearly, Barrett enters in an offside position, on the side,” he said. “For me, that’s a penalty try and a yellow card.”
“There should have been a penalty try when Rieko Ioane intercepted Léo Barré’s pass a little later. That’s 14 points, in the end. That counts, against the All Blacks. And so we’re going to discuss it.
“I’m happy for there to be that difference in the score, but that’s two tries and two yellow cards.”
He added: “I would like us to be refereed like the French team, not like a small nation.
“Since the start of the tour, we have the impression that there is only one team that is being watched, in attack as well as in defence.”
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Galthie’s criticism of the officials comes after renowned Kiwi journalist Gregor Paul claimed that the All Blacks were on a referee ‘watchlist’ and accused the officiating bigwigs of over-scrutinising New Zealand.
This was after New Zealand had a try ruled out in the first Test match between the two nations, which was just one of many issues where he felt the officials went out of their way to punish the men in black.
