All Blacks fail to flatter as red defines the game
It would be nice rugby.
Only for the second week in succession, it was a card that defined the test match between New Zealand and France. History will show the All Blacks won 26-13 in Wellington last night, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-test series.
But it was the red card shown to France fullback Benjamin Fall, in the 12th minute, that the game will be remembered for.
Fall will feel he only had eyes for the ball, as he and All Blacks first five-eighth Beauden Barrett collided in mid-air. But Barrett’s fall was a frightening one, landing head-first to write about the before his body buckled on impact.
Thankfully he was able to get up and walk away. Even if it was only down the tunnel, to fail a Head Injury Assessment.
Referee Angus Gardner felt Fall’s disregard for Barrett’s safety, the unprotected fall and subsequent concussion test left him with ‘‘no option’’ but to brandish a red card.
Does the severity of the injury dictate the decision? The obvious answer is sometimes. There will be those who argue rugby’s gone soft and Fall should never have gone. Others will just be thankful Barrett wasn’t more seriously injured.
Gardner deserves credit for the process he followed. Where referee Luke Pearce was hasty in sinbinning France lock Paul Gabrillagues at Eden Park a week ago, Gardner took time, consulted his officiating team and studied all the available replays.
He was calm and deliberate and entitled to believe that the evidence left him with only one conclusion.
Never mind that it left the sell-out crowd of 34,422 flat as a tack and made the match a non-event.
Prop Joe Moody, wing Ben Smith and fullback Jordie Barrett all scored converted first-half tries for the All Blacks, as they went to the break 21-6 up. France had enjoyed some good moments, and looked to have scored in the sixth minute via second five-eighth Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Replays revealed otherwise and by the time Fall received his marching orders, the match had ceased to be a meaningful contest.
The immediate problem for the All Blacks might be injuries. Beyond Beauden Barrett, tighthead prop Owen Franks left the field with what appeared to be a rib problem, while flanker Liam Squire didn’t return from the halftime break.
By the time Jordie Barrett slid in for his second try, on the hour mark, the All Blacks had a vastly different side to the one that had started. Beyond the injuryreplacements Damian McKenzie, Ofa Tu’ungafsai and Vaea Fifita, coach Steve Hansen had turned to the bench in search of inspiration.
Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ardie Savea, Nathan Harris, TJ Perenara and Ngani Laumape all made secondhalf introductions. It took Perenara’s sinbinning, in the 63rd minute for persistent All Blacks infringing, to liven things up. Funny how even playing numbers can do that.
The All Blacks worked hard to produce a final flourish but it was France, after the final siren, who enjoyed that distinction, as replacement prop Cedate Gomes Sa rumbled in from 20 metres.
Joe
(Jordie Barrett 2, Ben Smith, Moody tries; Damian McKenzie 3 con) (Cedate Gomes Sa try; Morgan pen, Jules Plisson con). 21-6.
Parra 2