Monday 10 July 2017 12:15, UK
A former New Zealand referee has hit out at Romain Poite over his controversial decision not to award the All Blacks a penalty at the end of Saturday's 15-15 draw with the British and Irish Lions.
French referee Poite initially awarded a kickable penalty to New Zealand when he deemed replacement Lions hooker Ken Owens to be offside when he touched a restart which had been knocked on by Liam Williams.
However, after consultation with the television match official, Poite overturned his initial decision, deciding Owens had instead committed accidental offside, and awarded a scrum to the All Blacks instead of a penalty.
Gary Wise, a former provincial referee in New Zealand, believes Poite made a mistake in reversing his decision and criticised him for not allowing the All Blacks to play advantage, with centre Anton Leinart-Brown in possession in a promising attacking position.
"In this case the law is there and it should have been applied - it is a penalty kick all day long," Wise told Sky Sports News HQ. "Warburton challenged it more so pleading.
"As a referee you are taught not to determine the result of the match if you can. I struggle to see why he never carried on, bought some time and played advantage.
"Clearly, Anton Leinart-Brown had gathered the ball and had a clear try-line in front of him.
"The key point here is preventing the opponent from gaining an advantage. Clearly [Poite] did and it was a penalty kick, as per the sanction in the rule book."
