Michael Hooper reacts to Scott Barrett’s controversial late-game call

Wallabies great Michael Hooper was asked to comment on All Blacks captain Scott Barrett’s controversial call in the nail-biting 30-29 loss to France. New Zealand were awarded a penalty with about six minutes left, and what happened next has generated a lot of debate.

Damian McKenzie had already kept the All Blacks in the fight after converting three penalty shots at goal after being injected into the Test off the pine. In the 74^th minute, the replacement lined up another pivotal shot at goal with the visitors trailing by four points at the time.

McKenzie sent the ball through the middle of the uprights, which set the stage for a grandstand finish between two international rugby heavyweight contenders. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, with the three points on the scoreboard coming with a sense of risk.

France sent the restart deep into the All Blacks’ half, and the visitors wouldn’t emerge from their side of the field in the final five minutes of play. Les Bleus’ wall-like defence stood tall while the All Blacks were instead left desperate for a moment of heroics from one of their own.

With time up on the clock, fullback Will Jordan was held up by some French defenders before the ball was deemed unplayable from the maul. That brought an end to the match, and so too the All Blacks’ hopes of going unbeaten on their blockbuster Northern Tour.

“Yeah I mean, we’ll never know, that’s the thing that sucks,” Hooper said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts when asked about whether the All Blacks should’ve kicked for touch instead of taking the shot at goal.

“I’m sure they’re probably saying now, ‘Now that we know the result, maybe we should have kicked to touch.’

“But what if they take that three points, all they’ve got to do is get down within 50 again and they’ve got another shot at the victory which is probably a higher probability than scoring a try sometimes from 20 out.

“But we’ll never know.”

As Hooper suggested, hindsight is a fascinating concept. Barrett could’ve been looked at as a captaincy genius if the All Blacks had scored after kicking for touch, just as he would’ve been criticised for not taking the points on offer if they had turned down the shot at goal.

It was clear not long after full-time that this was going to be a big talking point of the All Blacks’ next Test against Italy, with coach Scott Robertson addressing the moment during a post-game interview on the Sky Sport NZ broadcast.

“I’ll talk to Scott (Barrett) a little more about it,” ‘Razor’ said. “It was his call.” Barrett was also asked about the moment during the post-match press conference, with the skipper admitting he was “really torn” about what decision to make in that moment.

“You kick that penalty goal then you’re one scoring play,” former Wallaby Morgan Turinui added on Stan Sport.

“Even when they’re on their own line, two metres out from their own try line after the bell trying to punch away, they know if they can get anywhere near halfway and get a penalty, they can win the game so it does do that.

“There had to have been a moment where they thought, ‘We can win the game here but going to the corner.’ There are lots of little decisions in the backend of that game too that decided the winner but also saying that France were very well deserving winners.”

The All Blacks had beaten Eddie Jones’ Japan, England and Ireland since leaving New Zealand’s shores for their end-of-year tour. Following the loss to France in Paris, they’ve already turned their attention towards an upcoming clash with Italy in cold conditions.