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'I'm sorry Nic' - Raynal and White's heated exchange after final whistle

By Stefan Frost
Nic White and Mathieu Raynal Credit: The Legend of Marty Banks on FB/Nine Sports

Unseen footage released by an Australian network reveals Mathieu Raynal apologised to Nic White after his late refereeing call helped New Zealand beat Australia earlier in the week.

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The on-field conversation between the pair came after the French referee made the controversial call to overturn an Australia free kick for timewasting.

The Aussies were deep in their own 22 at the time and had just reclaimed possession with a vital turnover. They were also leading on the scoreboard with less than two minutes remaining, but relinquished that advantage as the ball was handed back to New Zealand who went on to score a match-winning try a minute later.

The heart-breaking finish enraged many Australian fans, but match-footage did reveal a precedent was set before the decision was made. Raynal repeatedly instructed Bernard Foley – the Wallabies flyhalf tasked with kicking for touch – to hurry up with his kick.

As Foley continued to run down the clock, his teammates began screaming and gesticulating, desperate for their ten to get rid of the ball. And then, just as Foley was about to launch, an impatient Raynal stepped in to give a scrum to the All Blacks.

Cue Jordie Barrett’s try in the corner off the set piece and utter delirium for the visiting fans.

Australian network Channel 9 have recently released footage of an exchange between White and Raynal after the game which opens with the referee apologising.

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“Nic I’m sorry, you know exactly what I wanted to do. I told you two times and then you still continued,” Raynal said.

Unhappy with the justification offered up, White opted to respond curtly and point out the huge ramifications the call would have: “I understand that, but he [Foley] was just about to kick it in two seconds. Mate that just cost us the Rugby Championship.”

Raynal, seeing that Nic was truly incensed, became more defensive as he went on to explain why he made the surprising decision, listing out all the warnings he had given before dishing out the call.

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“Can I speak? Can I speak? I told you, you first, because you are the captain. I then I told your ten. Then I am warning him, saying ‘if you don’t play immediately, I will give a scrum.

“So is that not fair, what you did at the end? You just ran the time down.

“If you think I am not capable to give a scrum and turnover you make a mistake. So now you know it.”

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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