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ESPN staff
Former All Blacks coach remains Steve Hansen remains upset about the decision that cost his side a potentially series-winning penalty against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
The series locked at 1-1 game apiece, the two sides met at a packed Eden Park in Auckland for the decider.
With the match tied at 15-all inside the final few minutes, referee Romain Poite blew a penalty against Lions hooker Ken Owens for offside only for the Frenchman to be persuaded by his assistant, fellow countryman Jerome Garces, to consult the Television Match Official.
Poite then changed his decision and instead awarded only a scrum to the All Blacks, and the hosts were unable to build anything from the set-piece before the fulltime siren sounded.
Speaking on Sky Sport, Hansen said his frustrations sit with World Rugby.
“I have always understood that the referee will make mistakes. So he’s made a mistake and he’s got that wrong,” Hansen told Sky Sport commentator Ian Smith.
“The thing that annoyed me most about that incident, and still does to this day, is that we haven’t had an apology from World Rugby.
“They’ve told us… well one person in particular has told us over and over again that the decision was right. Yet we all know… everybody in the world knows it’s not.
“We’ve had conversations [with Poite] and we just said, ‘move on, Romain, you can’t change it, it’s not your problem’.”
Owens had played the ball in an offside position after teammate Liam Williams had knocked on from the kick-off while under pressure from a charging Kieran Read.
Poite’s original decision would have resulted in a kickable penalty attempt for fly-half Beauden Barrett, only moments after Owen Farrell had drawn the Lions level with a three-pointer of his own.
But the kick never eventuated, Eden Park sinking into an uncomfortable atmosphere as All Blacks captain Read and his Lions counterpart, Sam Warburton, each put on hand one the trophy.
“All we wanted was for the head of the rugby referees to say, ‘Look, sorry we’ve got that wrong’. And then you can turn around and say to the players, ‘OK boys, the decision was wrong, but we’ve just got to cop it’.”