Dave Rennie weighs in on 'winding back' the game clock after Meredith TMO intervention

A TMO intervention to look back at potential foul play by Cam Roigard on Declan Meredith in the act of scoring a try has opened up questions around clock management in the wake of the second Bledisloe Test.

The review was sent down minutes after the tackle, which saw Roigard bring Meredith down and use his leg to hold Meredith up before Beauden Barrett came in over the top to dislodge the ball.

The All Blacks took possession and continued play, with the on field referee not interested in having a second look having seen Barrett force the ball out of Meredith’s grasp.

By the time the TMO stop play to look at the potential try, the game had progressed a few minutes, raising an issue around winding back the game clock to the point of the try in the event it is awarded.

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie was put on the spot regarding the incident, and said that many coaches would probably be interested in having the discussion.

“I mean these are probably discussions for a lot of coaches,” Rennie said post-match. 

“We’re going to be up in in London in a couple of weeks, and there’s an opportunity for everyone to discuss that.

“But you know, if you went back to that, unless they, you know, it was a penalty try, do you take the two minutes off that we’ve just lost in the game?

“You see, there’s lots of questions to be asked around that. So, I haven’t got an answer for you now, but no doubt it’ll be discussed in a couple of weeks.” 

Ultimately referee Luke Pearce ruled there to be no foul play by Roigard, which prevented that potential situation unfolding.

All Blacks captain Codie Taylor said that Pearce’s ruling was consistent with the rule that you can defend but not actively kick the ball.

“I was off the field at that time, but my understanding was in the act of scoring, you’re allowed to play the ball, and obviously that’s the way Luke [Pearce] saw it.

“I think he sort of overruled it by the looks.”

“You can’t kick the ball,” Rennie added.

“So he’s deemed that Cam didn’t kick it, but he’s just still just trying to defend to stop him from getting the ball down.”