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With the game in baltimore with All black people trying to come back from 29-21 down, a run attempt by Kurt-Lee Arendse essentially killed it out of the contest.
Full-back Damian McKenzie broke through the line and tried to link up with winger Josh Moorby inside, only for the winger to drop the ball in Cameron Hanekom’s tackle.
Arendse picked up the loose ball and raced back 60 meters to score untouched through a tired All Black forward defence.
The tackle at Moorby by Hanekom was simultaneous, one of several close tries against the All Blacks that “didn’t go down well” with assistant coach Neil Barnes.
“I guess it’s normal process to look at things like that. But yeah, it’s a few calls.” Barnes spoke about game-defining moments on Jason Pine’s Newstalk ZB show.
“Well, obviously, you know the one on Josh Moorby when he dunks the ball and the guy has his hand inside so he can’t catch it and you don’t get the call.
“But they picked up the ball, he dropped it and scored at the other end. That’s a 14-point effort. Things like that don’t go well for you.”
Despite improving set-pieces, there were early indiscretions punished.
Two scrum penalties went against the All Blacks for releasing the brake early, but after an inspection Taylor was released at the same time as Malcolm Marx.
“We got two penalties against early in the game for a brake, which nobody really thinks about ***, but the referees are focused on,” Barnes said.
“And when you look at the video, both teams did the exact same thing at the same time. They have two penalties against us, so I guess for the day there’s a perception that they’re the dominant team. But at this point, they’re getting the rub of the green.”
“When that changes, we’ll have a fair one.”
Barnes revealed that after the second Test in Cape Town they received an apology for the calls that went wrong against them which he believed would have made the series 2-0 to the All Blacks.
“Ace I he said that you, the the game tonight was bloody close, and they Got a couple of calls, and we it is not and so it is the way the rub of the green going,” he said.
“You are Got that to suck that up, but you know, I go back that the second TEast. We were he the wrong side of some calls there, which we Got apologies for, but that would to make a series 2-0, and people wouldn’t to be thinking like they they are.”