Poite: Trashed dressing room after wrong Lions call

<div class="article-meta"><span class="timestamp" data-behavior="date_time" data-date="2021-06-28T04:12:00Z"><span class="time" data-dateformat="time1" data-showtimezone="true">5:12 AM BST</span></span></div> <p>Referee Romain Poite has admitted he got a late call wrong that denied New Zealand a chance of a series victory against the <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/31718592/springboks-cancel-training-players-test-positive-covid-19-ahead-lions-tour">British & Irish Lions</a> in 2017 and that he trashed his Eden Park changing room in anger at his mistake.</p> <p>The three-Test series ended 1-1 following a 15-15 draw in the finale at Auckland after Poite, with two minutes left on the clock, overruled his own offside decision against Ken Owens.</p> <p>Replacement hooker Owens had touched a restart knocked on by team mate Liam Williams but after consulting with the television match official, Poite ruled Owens “accidentally offside” and awarded a scrum to the All Blacks, rather than a penalty.</p> <aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related"> <ul> <li><a name="&lpos=story:editorspicks:inline:1" href="https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/31697866/wallabies-coach-dave-rennie-understand-resistance-red-card-replacement-trial" class="img-link"><img loading="lazy" src="https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/photo/2021/0624/r871701_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center" width="65" height="65"></a></li> <li><a name="&lpos=story:editorspicks:inline:2" href="https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/31718592/springboks-cancel-training-players-test-positive-covid-19-ahead-lions-tour" class="img-link"><img loading="lazy" src="https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/photo/2021/0627/r873074_1296x729_16-9.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=origin" width="65" height="65"></a></li> </ul> <p>1 Related</p> </aside> <p>The decision incensed All Blacks fans and, four years later, Poite confirmed their frustrations were well-founded.</p> <p>“Many people called me after the game and told me, ‘That was a mistake, but it was justice, the right decision to make’,” Frenchman Poite told <em>Rugby Pass</em>.</p> <p>“Even the World Rugby staff management gave me this call. But I said that I am paid to make a big decision at the end of the game. That was my concern.</p> <p>“I can promise you when I went back to the changing room, I destroyed everything, because I was angry at myself.”</p> <p>Poite felt he had let down the entire referee group which included Jerome Garces and Jaco Peyper, saying they had done a “great” job during the series.</p> <p>“And what will we remember? Just the last decision of the tour,” he added.</p> <aside class="module-iframe-wrapper "> </aside> <p>“I was angry about myself, because I destroyed the feelings of everyone about the refereeing overall.</p> <p>“It’s a group, it’s a team, it’s a family. In my view, I did wrong for the others. I support my mistake, I am happy to say I made a mistake because I am human.”</p> <p>Steve Hansen, the All Blacks coach during the tour, said he had no problem with Poite making a mistake but was unhappy with the aftermath.</p> <aside class="inline inline-photo full"> <figure><picture><source media="(min-width: 376px)" srcset="https://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2021%2F0628%2Fr873474_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=570&format=jpg, https://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2021%2F0628%2Fr873474_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=1140&cquality=40&format=jpg 2x"></source><source media="(max-width: 375px)" srcset="https://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2021%2F0628%2Fr873474_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=375, https://a1.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2021%2F0628%2Fr873474_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&w=750&cquality=40&format=jpg 2x"></source><img class=" lazyload lazyload" data-image-container=".inline-photo"></picture><figcaption class="photoCaption">Referee Romain Poite talks with All Blacks captain Kieran Read about the decision that would ultimately end in the 2017 Lions series end in a 1-1 draw <cite>David Rogers/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure> </aside> <p>“My beef is not with any mistake the referee has made, my beef is the way it was handled afterwards. And I just think it is disappointing,” he told New Zealand’s <em>Stuff media</em>.</p> <p>“The disturbing thing for me is the phone call he gets from World Rugby saying, ‘You made a mistake, but it’s justified.’</p> <p>“That’s the worrying thing. Because the rules are the rules.”</p> <p>The Lions are set to arrive in South Africa later on Monday for a three-Test series against the world champion Springboks.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/sports/2021/06/28/poite-trashed-dressing-room-after-wrong-lions-call/">Poite: Trashed dressing room after wrong Lions call</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://patabook.com/sports">Patabook Sports</a>.</p>

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