SCOTLAND’S forwards coach yesterday added his voice to those describing a knock on by All Black captain Kieran Read as an act of cynicism, but Dan McFarland also acknowledged that it was merely evidence of how determined the world’s best side is to avoid losing a Test match.
The incident, which saw the veteran No 8 slap the ball out of Jonny Gray’s hands as Scotland pressed for a try which would have turned Huw Jones subsequent score into a match winner, happened with close to nine minutes remaining and the All Blacks already down to 14 players for the rest of the match with replacement hooker Wyatt Crockett having just replaced Sam Cane in the sin bin.
That the New Zealanders were repeatedly forced into such desperate measures was an indicator of how much pressure they were under and McFarland said there was no doubt they should have been down to 13 men.
“Yellow card... quite possibly (a try), quite possibly a penalty try. I can see that that would be something for discussion, but the yellow card’s not up for discussion is it? That’s just cynical isn’t it?” he said.
However he also acknowledged that a moment which perhaps bore comparison with the deliberate knock on by David Campese that controversially helped Australia beat England in the 1991 World Cup final, offered an insight into what gives the All Blacks their edge.
“They’re an extremely competitive side and everybody in world rugby knows that when you get the ball into their 22 the very last thing they want to do is concede a try. That’s how they play,” he said.“They’re very streetwise, they’re very clever. They’re a really good team who make good decisions on the park and that’s an element of the game that we’re looking to improve as well, as is every other team. I’d say that they’re the best team in the world at it and the rest of us are getting there, so to speak.”
He seemed to suggest, however, that Scotland’s management was not prepared to go quite as far in terms of helping their team to win.
“Not being cynical… Nobody wants to give away tries in your 22 or at all, but defending hard within the laws is the way that we’ll approach it,” McFarland added.
It was not the only contentious moment that saw an All Black get away with an indiscretion as McFarland suggested that the Murrayfield officials had made another blunder when failing to sin bin Waisale Naholo for making illegal contact with Stuart Hogg as he caught a high ball.
On that occasion the television replay official seemed to talk match referee Matthew Carley out of sending the winger to the sin bin and while he disagreed with their conclusion McFarland expressed understanding.
“I think it is a discussion between them,” he said. “I know they like to have a dialogue to talk things through and I’m all for that. Whether I think they came to the right decision in the end, I think it could have been a yellow card, but it is what it is. These things sometimes go for you, sometimes go against you. That’s a difficult job making those kinds of decisions in front of 67,000 people where everybody wants the game to go on as well.”
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