'Bulls*** call' - Chiefs fans livid after another loss comes down to final play
The luckless Chiefs slumped to 0-6 with a tight 21-17 loss to the Blues at Eden Park, keeping the side winless through Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Again a controversial moment decided the game, with the Chiefs pounding the Blues goal line in the final stanza before losing possession for a holding on.
The referee’s decision to award the penalty was arguably a 50-50 one with lock Josh Goodhue making the tackle but failing to release the ball carrier.
The decision was labelled ‘bulls***’ and ‘guess work’ by fans not impressed with such a flakey call deciding the outcome of the match.
Massive play there at the end to win the game for the @BluesRugbyTeam (by the referee). #BLUvCHI @Sportsfreakconz @sumostevenson
— Anand Reddy (@AnandSReddy) July 26, 2020
Bullshit call, you really think in the 79th minute a Chiefs player would not release the ball on the oppositions goal line whilst behind by 4 points, pure guess work from the official #BLUvCHI
— Jonesy (@dougierydal) July 26, 2020
Hard to understand how Josh Goodhue could both make that goal line tackle and still be up in time to contest the breakdown while also releasing the tackled player… But couldn't see it on the broadcast and the referee was right there ?????
— Tom Vinicombe (@TomVinicombe) July 26, 2020
Feel for the Chiefs. Especially that last pen for holding on. Couldn't quite understand how the ref made that call after seeing the replay
Anyway stoked for the Blues for closing it out it's always a tough game against Chiefs. ??????
— Tino Junior Poluleuligaga (@JIP2EZY) July 26, 2020
Ha the chiefs blowing up about a penalty?? #ironic
— Kyle Smith (@K_Smith_NZ) July 26, 2020
One wrongly disallowed try one week, and another two wrong calls the next week….. #BLUvCHI
— ryanator109?? (@ryanator109) July 26, 2020
3 penalties but not one considered a penalty try?? Tough #BLUvCHI
— Benjamin Wong (@Garoo97) July 26, 2020
Not the same quality as last night but equally thrilling. Blues lucky with the last penalty – Goodhue was the tackler, needs to release and be on his feet but didn't look eitherway #BLUvCHI
— Dezzy10 (@Dezzy106) July 26, 2020
Haha should have been penalty other way. Goodhue's knee on the ground. Plus he didn't release as he was also tackler.
— Dezzy10 (@Dezzy106) July 26, 2020
The Chiefs senior players were visibly upset with the ref following the call, with Anton Lienert-Brown pleading after the match for technology to be used to review such critical calls.
ALB on @newstalkzbsport pleading for technology to be used when available. #BLUvCHI
— Elliott Smith (@elliottnz) July 26, 2020
#Chiefs couldn't buy a win this season with all the gold in the world. The final 10 minutes summed up their season. Clearly frustrated. Questions must be asked of Gatland.#BLUvCHI had plenty of handling errors/ball not going to hand. Fairly scrappy. #SuperRugbyAotearoa
— Sports Guru (@G_Skev) July 26, 2020
Warren Gatland was less animated in his post-match interview with Sky Sport NZ following the match, saying that his side is showing enormous character. He explained that a side not turning up would get beaten by a score.
“I thought we showed great character. A lesser team that goes through that is getting beaten by 30 or 40 points.
When asked about the final call, Gatland was diplomatic about the issue applauding the Blues for winning the game and praising the quality of the spectacle.
“I think that’s 4 or 5 games we have been there right at the end.
“The referee has made the call, it’s his decision. Well done the Blues, they’ve won the game.”
“I thought it was a good game on rugby.”
The sixth straight loss in Super Rugby Aotearoa won’t do much to help Gatland’s reputation with some corners of New Zealand, with growing concern over his side’s form slump.
Gatland doesn’t have Australian teams to redeem himself against so he he’ll keep getting embarrassed by the Aotearoa teams. #BLUCHI
— Mohubedu (@Ralphium) July 26, 2020
Gatland a myth? #BLUvCHI
— Rugby Report Card (@rugby_podcast) July 26, 2020
Gatland can take his Welsh style all the way back up his valley I reckon.
Clearly he’s coached the Chiefs running play out of them and the defence is a joke.
Thank fuck he won’t get the All Blacks job. Not that it matters in the ongoing Covid world.
— Sam (@sdn79nz) July 26, 2020
Actually think they both would be better playing more like the other. Blues could do with being a bit more conservative and play X’s and O’s. Chiefs looks like they’re playing in a straight jacket (cough Gatland) #BLUvCHI
— Super Linebreaks (@SuperLinebreaks) July 26, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments