Wallabies great Phil Kearns fired a shot at the All Blacks following their Bledisloe Cup clean sweep. Photo / Getty
Wallabies great Phil Kearns fired a shot at the All Blacks following their Bledisloe Cup clean sweep. Photo / Getty
Wallabies great Phil Kearns has slammed the All Blacks for getting a "free ride" from referees on the international rugby stage.
Finishing off a comfortable season of victories over the Wallabies, the All Blacks decisively defeated the Australian side on Saturday night 37-20 to claim another Bledisloe Cup clean sweep.
And if Wallabies fans weren't upset enough, Australian hooker Tolu Latu's yellow card for an open hand push to the face of All Black hooker Codie Taylor, hasn't gone down well.
Tolu Latu of the Wallabies sits on the sideline after being given a yellow card during the Bledisloe Cup test match. Photo / Getty
The altercation began after Taylor pushed Latu following a scuffle during the second half, which the Wallabies hooker reacted with a strike to his opponent's face.
Frustrated by not only another season of All Blacks' supremacy but by French referee Romain Poite's call, Kearns voiced his opinion on the Fox Sports broadcast blasting the All Blacks for getting it easy.
"That yellow card, I've got to say, I'm consistently frustrated β and I know world rugby is, the other teams except for New Zealand β frustrated with the free ride New Zealand get from referees globally," Kearns said.
"Disappointing from Tolu ... sure, he shouldn't have done it but, really, referees, get a grip, nothing happened, no one was hurt, no one was punched.
Phil Kearns represented the Wallabies 67 times and was captain on ten occasions. Photo / Photosport
"It was just a little push and the other bloke pushed him first.
However, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika agreed the call was reasonable.
"You shouldn't do it because if they push us and he pushes back then he should know it is going to come back on us. That is just the nature of where we are at the moment," said Cheika.
Head coach, Michael Cheika of the Wallabies looks on after the Bledisloe Cup test match. Photo / Getty
"He shouldn't do it but at the same time as a footballer, you don't want to be pushed. I don't think the referee was going to do anything about it when he kept coming towards him."
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen also defended Poite's decision and said although it may have been a harsh call, Latu left the referee with no other option.
"You are not allowed to strike someone in the face so it was pretty dumb wasn't it. And if you do dumb things you get dumb reactions," Hansen said after the game.
"If he [Poite] hadn't done it he would have been chewed up by his bosses. He's just done what the law says he should do and given the guy 10 minutes.
"Sport brings out moments where you over react and I think the young hooker has overreacted to something and to be honest Codie did, too but he didn't hit him in the head."
