Gregor Paul: Top ref's problematic interview concerning for All Blacks

OPINION:

There is something whimsical, mystical even when the French opt to speak in English to explain greatly controversial sporting acts.

When former Manchester United legend Eric Cantona said the seagulls follow the trawler because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea, it somehow made perfect sense why he had decided to karate kick an irritating opposition fan in the face.

And so too does it appear as if referee Romain Poite, has successfully drawn a line under the events which occurred in the last few minutes of the third test between the All Blacks and British and Irish Lions four years ago, with an equally oblique and muddled use of Franglais.

Poite, in a podcast with RugbyPass, says he smashed up his changing room at Eden Park after that test which finished in a 15-all draw.

He was, he says, mad at himself, but precisely what for, is not actually clear as, while he doesn't quite have a Cantona moment of using a wildly nonsensical analogy to explain himself, he does say he's proud of the mistake he made as it confirms he's human.

Equally confusing is that he offers no apology to the All Blacks for overturning his original, correct, decision to award them a kickable penalty for an offside infringement and downgrade it to a scrum.

Instead, he suggests his anger was driven by his concern that he'd tainted the officiating of the whole tour by inviting so much controversy and not by any sense that he'd robbed the host nation of a chance to claim a series victory by inventing a new rule right there on the spot.

With all due respect to Poite for fronting the issue, he has in fact intensified the injustice of that drawn series in 2017 and, more alarmingly, alluded to there being something quite rotten in the State of Denmark.

In fact, it doesn't allude to there being a problem so much as confirm what New Zealanders and their Southern Hemisphere allies have felt for decades, which is that World Rugby endemically leans towards protecting and promoting Northern Hemisphere interests.

Brodie Retallick of the All Blacks looks at referee Romain Poite after a penalty during the Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions. Photo / Getty Images.

It's based in the North, predominantly employs people from the North and its executive council is majority ruled by the North.

On the basis that if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck – World Rugby is probably a Northern Hemisphere institution.

Poite made a catastrophic error in that test – one which had no justification in law or interpretation and one that he chose to make even after receiving confirmation from TMO George Ayoub that his original call to award the All Blacks a penalty was correct.

It was a decision made after prolonged consideration and deliberation and so can't be attributed to a failure to do due diligence.

And it was so wrong in process and outcome as to be rendered beyond being attributable to incompetence. But Poite revealed that World World Rugby effectively patted him on the back for a job well done.

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

"Even the World Rugby staff management gave me this call."

Referee Romain Poite walks into the changing rooms during the Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions at Eden Park in 2017. Photo / Getty Images.

While this should demand a response from the governing body, it won't.

And that's because the victims of this travesty were the All Blacks and World Rugby knows that the All Blacks, given their endless success, their ruthless approach and chequered history in the use of foul play, are never going to be taken seriously in the role of victim.

Secondly, World Rugby can seemingly only see the decision Poite made as it pertained to the North: as if justice for the Lions happened without consequence for the All Blacks.

And that's what should be concerning the All Blacks ahead of the test season kicking off. Will they encounter more refereeing of the sort they did in 2017 where decisions are made outside the law to seemingly satisfy a need to produce outcomes that fit a particular narrative World Rugby wants to promote?

Are there agendas at play that supersede the requirement to officiate as per the laws of the game?

International rugby's credibility has been eroded by not only the decision-making that skewed the 2017 test series in a direction it should never have travelled and now by the subsequent curious non-apology and quasi-admission of guilt by Poite for his role in it.

All that is being asked of those running and officiating tests in these next few months is that they understand that the end can never justify the means when it comes to decision-making.

The right decision will always be the one enshrined in law, no matter how many seagulls are following the trawler.