Despite the All Blacks running in six tries and scoring 43 points against France on Saturday night in Wellington, there were still areas of controversy in the second Test, one moment being in the 19th minute with All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett.
Barrett was covering the backfield after a French player broke through the All Blacks’ defence, before he “illegally knocked the ball down”, stopping any chance of a France try down the left-hand touchline.
Referee Christophe Ridley ruled that Barrett had illegally knocked it down, resulting in a yellow card for the 34-year-old.
When Barrett was asked about the decision after the Test match in Wellington, he was quick to plead his case.
“Oh no, gosh no, did it look deliberate? That’s how it felt to me, too. I certainly didn’t have time to think about knocking it down,” Barrett told reporters at Sky Stadium.
“I was in a situation where I was potentially making a tackle or going into a breakdown, look it’s an area of the game where I’ve been stung before it’s often spoken about an area where there’s, I mean, in rugby league, it’s a lot different to rugby union.
“So there’s certainly no intention to knock the ball down.”
Barrett explains that when he’s in the moment, covering the backfield, it’s difficult to be thinking about anything other than making the tackle.
“So often you’re the last defender or second to last offender, and you just have to be so careful, like you say, It’s a frustrating part of the game, to be honest.”
Barrett is also asked about how the All Blacks’ attacking shape sometimes resembles that of a rugby league team, which the 136-Test All Black says could be due to the they spend trying to counter a rush line defence.
“Teams have pressed quite hard in recent times with line speed, so I guess you’ve got to create depth to the attack, but at the same time have good short passing on front door options.
“So yeah, look, if you’ve noticed that in our game, it’s certainly something we’re working on as well.
“When you’ve got options, and certainly the backs and forwards all have skill sets to be able to distribute as well as going through the front door. So yes, it’s a good observation, it’s what we train a lot of.”
