Hansen backs ref’s ‘brave’ call
Steve Hansen cheekily suggested that Courtney Lawes was so far offside at Twickenham, he may as well have been sitting in TJ Perenara’s back pocket.
Speaking in the wake of the controversial moment that cost England a famous win over the All Blacks, Hansen said Lawes deserved to be penalised for breaking the law and it was the correct call to disallow the ‘try’ to Sam Underhill in the final minutes of the game yesterday.
Hansen’s comment is sure to stir up a section of the English fans in the wake of their side’s 16-15 loss to the All Blacks.
A large contingent of the Twickenham crowd that booed referee Jerome Garces’ call to disallow Underhill’s try will no doubt disagree, but the All Blacks coach was adamant the officials got it right.
Frenchman Garces consulted with TMO Marius Jonker, who viewed the replays and found Lawes was about half a metre offside. The try was scrapped and the All Blacks held on for victory.
‘‘There was no doubt he was offside,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘He was just about in the halfback’s back pocket. But what was going through my mind was ‘are they going to be brave enough to make the right decision?’ And they were, so it was good.’’
All Blacks captain Kieran Read said he was concentrating on how his side was going to execute the kickoff when he discovered that Garces had asked for the TMO to review the try.
‘‘I didn’t see the call, so it was really about what we were going to do next,’’ Read said.
‘‘Someone pointed out that they were offside . . . You just hoped they make the right call and thankfully we got it.’’
England coach Eddie Jones refused to criticise the referees.
The previous weekend England got a lucky break when Owen Farrell wasn’t penalised for what many thought was a noarms tackle in the final moments of their win over the Springboks.
Their fortune ran out when Jonker said Lawes was offside. It was the correct call, but many England fans filing out of the massive stadium afterwards felt their team had been ripped off.
‘‘I have said it a number of times, I don’t comment on those decisions,’’ Jones said.
‘‘I leave it up to that guy [the referee]. If he can’t make the right decision with 10 replays, then who can?’’
‘‘Sometimes the game loves you and sometimes it doesn’t love you. You have got to accept that if you stay in the fight long enough,
They said it
Reactions to the controversial non-try decision:
‘‘There was no doubt he was offside. He [England flanker Courtney Lawes] was just about in the halfback’s back pocket.’’
some times it doesn’t love you.’’ clearly showed Lawes onside.’’ the game will love you.
‘‘We are prepared to stay in the fight, so will get some love from the game further down the ‘‘Sometimes the game loves you and ‘‘The replay ‘‘It looked a tight decision, too tight for the circumstances and England had every right to feel aggrieved.’’ ‘‘Television match official Marius Jonker correctly ruled that Lawes had been an inch offside.’’ track, don’t worry.’’
England had other opportunities to snap the All Blacks’ resolve but were unable to build up a 15-0 lead in the first half. Their lineout was shabby, four throws were lost, and Farrell didn’t take the chance to snap over a drop goal late in the game.
Co-captain Farrell also called for several attacking lineouts off penalties, instead of taking shots at goal.
‘‘Obviously our maul was going very well in the first half, and our forwards were itching to have a crack at them there and then,’’ he said.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen:
England coach Eddie Jones:
English rugby writer Stephen Jones, in
Mick Cleary in The Guardian:
Tom Fordyce of BBC Sport: