Governing body mum on mime artists . . .

French farce continues as Garces named to control first Bledisloe test in Sydney

You have to hand it to World Rugby — if nothing else, the organisation which administers the game has proven it has a sense of humour with the appointment of one Jerome Garces for the All Blacks’ opening Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup match.

The assistant referee, who convinced fellow Frenchman Romain Poite to change his mind on the penalty in the final minute at Eden Park which could have resulted in a series victory for the All Blacks, is the man with the whistle for the Bledisloe Cup test between the Wallabies and All Blacks at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on August 19.

As if the All Blacks’ return to Sydney and the scene of last year’s Spygate controversy didn’t offer up enough storylines, now we have a match official in charge who, along with Poite, has entered his name into rugby’s folklore for all the wrong reasons.

The All Blacks, along with their fans, are owed an explanation as to what Garces told Poite in the few seconds just before the referee changed his mind from a penalty to the All Blacks in front of the posts to a scrum with the third test locked at 15-15 and the series tied.

Viewers could hear the conversations between Poite and his other assistant Jaco Peyper and television match official George Ayoub, both of whom agreed with Poite that Ken Owens’ handling of the ball while offside was a penalty offence, but whatever Poite and Garces said to each other remains a mystery.

Two words — “Oui, Jerome” — an indication that Poite could hear Garces, was all that we were privy to. It seems Garces muted his microphone so only Poite could hear him, and then Poite reciprocated — an unorthodox way of officiating to say the least.

One viewer emailed the Herald yesterday saying: “Clearly, the 20-second monologue from Garces was enough for Poite to make the monumental decision to change his mind and come up with a ‘deal’ of all things. Who does that?”

Significantly too, Garces, the man who (rightly) showed Sonny Bill Williams the red card in first half of the second test in Wellington which changed the course of that match, and, in hindsight, the series, was in the worst position of all the officials to see the ball transfer forward from Liam Williams to Owens. He was running back along the right touchline and his vision was likely obscured by Owens himself.

Will we get an explanation from Garces, Poite or World Rugby? Almost certainly not. Transparency isn’t their style, unfortunately, so we will have to make do with our own various theories; second-guessing ourselves much like Poite did.

The press release which trumpeted Garces’ announcement gave no hint of the drama which unfolded last Saturday, and the quotes in the statement attributed to World Rugby match officials selection committee chairman Anthony Buchanan probably just serve to add insult to injury.

“Along with officials that performed to the highest level during the Lions series and the June internationals, we now have new faces coming into the panel,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to arrive in Japan [for World Cup] in 2019 with an established group of top-class, inform officials with the necessary experience to perform at the highest level.

“Our focus continues to be clear and consistent decision-making and the highest standards of physical conditioning.”

Wouldn’t that be nice?