Rennie sees red as TMO sinks Chiefs
Hurricanes midfielder Ma’a Nonu dives in to score the opening try in the tackle of Chiefs halfback Brad Weber in Wellington on Saturday night. CHIEFS COACH Dave Rennie simply told it how he saw it after what he described as an ‘‘unacceptable’’ TMO ruling late in his side’s loss to the Hurricanes.
Rennie took aim at TMO Vinny Munro’s decision to rule out a try to replacement halfback Augustine Pulu in the dying seconds of an enthralling Super Rugby match at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night.
‘‘The decision making right at the end of the game was massive wasn’t it? You’ve got a Hurricanes player lying on the ground who played the ball back, it was regathered by our guys and we scored,’’ he said after Munro had ruled Chiefs openside Sam Cane knocked the ball on before Pulu streaked over the try line.
‘‘I’ve looked at it 10 times and I can’t see how the Hurricanes get a scrum out of that, the guy on the ground is deliberately playing the ball. It was a defining moment of the game and when it goes upstairs the decision making should have been better. I don’t think it’s acceptable.’’
Rennie’s frustration was exacerbated by two other calls he clearly believed had cost his side a loss that may have ended their hopes of winning the New Zealand Conference.
‘‘There’s an
enormous
amount of character in this team, but we’re bloody grumpy,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘It doesn’t change the results. We have to look at ourselves and say we need to be better in certain areas, but they’re a tough side and you need a bit of luck to go your way. I don’t want to take anything away from them — but these are season defining moments and I’m disappointed with the decision making.’’ The chatter around the changing rooms after the match was that Rennie had a valid point about an errant Hurricanes hand at the ruck, but the Chiefs had earlier had two favourable rulings from the TMO with tries to Ma’a Nonu and James Marshall both ruled out.
It was that sort of game and Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd was philosophical about whether it had been decided by one ruling
‘‘I’m not in a position to comment [on the last TMO call] cos I didn’t see it, but it’s a game of inches. We thought Ma’a’s try was a try and they called a knock on, felt it rolled and he didn’t have enough contact down.’’
Boyd did pay tribute to the Chiefs though, suggesting they had probably been the better team, particularly considering the adversity they had overcome in losing both locks Mike Fitzgerald ( corked thigh) and Michael Allardice (knee) within the first 25 minutes.
The competition leading Hurricanes, after their 11th win in 12 matches, are now 13 points clear of the Chiefs in the NZ Conference with four weeks to play.
If they can beat the Blues at Eden Park next weekend, Boyd’s side would be almost impossible to catch. Their latest win came at a cost with tighthead prop Ben Franks going off with an Achilles strain and captain Conrad Smith taken off with a head knock 20min from fulltime.
(Ma’a Nonu 2, Ardie tries, James Marshall pen 2 con) ( Charlie Ngatai, Sam Cane tries, Damian McKenzie 2 pen con). 10-13
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