All Blacks: Referee Romain Poite admits crucial mistake in All Blacks-Lions draw

French referee Romain Poite has opened up on his controversial call at the end of the third All Blacks-Lions test in 2017, which denied Steve Hansen's men a chance for a late victory.

With the third and final test locked up at 15-15, British and Irish Lions hooker Ken Owens was caught 'accidental offside' in the closing minutes.

The Welsh veteran looked to have possibly cost the Lions the series when he caught the ball in an offside position late in the final test at Eden Park, with Poite awarding a penalty within kicking distance to the All Blacks.

However Poite changed his decision after a discussion with the TMO, downgrading his call to a scrum. The match finished 15-15 meaning a tied series.

In an interview with Rugby Pass, Poite admitted he got the call wrong.

"Many people called me after the game and told me, 'That was a mistake, but it was justice, the right decision to make'," Poite told Rugby Pass.

"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.

"I can promise you when I went back to the changing room, I destroyed everything, because I was angry at myself," Poite said.

The Frenchman said it's a shame the tour will be remembered for the final call.

"I felt the refereeing in this tour, 2017, was great. And what will we remember? Just the last decision of the tour.

"I was angry about myself, because I destroyed the feelings of everyone about the refereeing overall. 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."

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, to his credit, at the time kept to his stance of refusing to criticise Poite's actions following the test.

"If we had taken the opportunities, we would have won," he said after the draw. "It was an average way for it to finish but that's sport sometimes. We've just got to accept that and move on and get better at what we're trying to do.

"I said [on Saturday night], as young people, we were always taught to respect the referee and play to what he sees and that's what we'll do. We had plenty of chances to win the game ourselves."