Revealed: referee's massive penalty-mark blunder in Chiefs' loss to Hurricanes
Chiefs coach Warren Gatland has taken umbrage with Jordie Barrett’s long-range hoof that helped push the Hurricanes to their first Super Rugby Aotearoa victory, claiming it was taken 10 metres off the mark.
Barrett’s 58-metre penalty, which gave the Hurricanes a 17-point halftime lead in their eventual 25-18 victory in Hamilton on Sunday, underlined his superb striking ability that few, if any, in world rugby can match.
After watching his side fall to their fourth straight defeat, despite enjoying a one-man advantage for 25 minutes in the second half after Hurricanes lock Scott Scrafton copped his second yellow card, Gatland complained about where Barrett took his kick.
“The penalty on halftime was probably 10 metres forward from where it should have been but that’s us at the moment. We’ve got to take our opportunities,” Gatland said.
“In those moments we just need to make sure we get some clarity. It’s an easy one to say ‘that’s not the mark it’s 10 metres back’. We saw a situation last night where there was a penalty and try scored from a forward pass. We need to make sure our communication is better.
“It was a great kick and he kicked one in the warm-up from about 60 metres but that wasn’t where the mark was from. We’ve got to make sure we get those things right because they are big moments in the game.”
At the time of the penalty against prop Nepo Laulala Chiefs captain Sam Cane could be seen remonstrating with referee Ben O’Keeffe.
“I’m not going to lie it was disappointing,” Cane said. “I was outside Nepo – I saw he was offside, it was a fair penalty. I can understand two metres but 10 you’re wondering what you’re looking at. At the same time, that’s not the winning and losing of the game right there, it’s just a disappointing moment.
“We’re all singing off the same song sheet and trying our guts out but if we can control a few more things like that 10-minute period before halftime and then it’s a different ball game. It’s a happy camp, it’s a camp that’s fighting for each other, but four losses isn’t pretty.”
Hurricanes coach Jason Holland brushed off the Barrett strike which, in fairness, had minimal bearing on the outcome.
“I haven’t seen that,” Holland said. “That’s the way it goes. If that’s an issue, I’m not sure. It was a good kick anyway. He told me in the warm-up he had 65 metres in him with the breeze and I laughed at him.
“It was massive to get the win tonight. A lot of it was around attitude and ticker. We’ve got a lot of scope to get a lot better. I said to the boys ‘I reckon you’ve got to score 30 points to win these games’ and we’ve got to be a little bit more accurate to do that but I can’t fault the effort. We can build from here nicely.”
After snapping a three-loss run since lockdown Hurricanes captain TJ Perenara was proud of his side’s defensive resilience and happy to welcome Barrett back from a shoulder injury.
“He would kick the ball from anywhere. He likes those kicks, he likes big moments,” Perenara said. “He’s a quality player. It’s not just his kicking ability off the tee – his kicking out of hand, running the ball and organisation has been crucial for us.
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“The best thing it gives us is the ability for teams not to give penalties away in that area of the field – they know that we’ll take points from there. I’m not sure he’s missed too many from there so it’s a good weapon for us to have.”
In both tries scored by Hurricanes wing Kobus van Wyk the Chiefs were guilty of rushing the ball carrier without making a spot tackle and leaving far too much space on the outside to exploit. With the bye week to contemplate these costly defensive blunders, Gatland admitted the Chiefs’ title hopes were dashed.
“It’s frustrating at the moment we can’t seem to buy a trick. Everyone realises how tough this competition is and you need a bit of momentum and luck and we need some of that at the moment.
“We’ve got to keep learning from these situations. For us it’s about earning some respect and pride and hurting some other people on the way. We can’t win this competition now if we’re realistic but we want to earn some respect in these last four games and that’s pretty important.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments