Former Test star Drew Mitchell believes a so-called perception of ‘arrogance’ held by referees is hurting the Wallabies.
Australia lost to New Zealand in their second Bledisloe Cup match, going down 40-14 at Eden Park.
The loss came a little over a week after an agonising 39-37 defeat at Marvel Stadium where referee Mathieu Raynal’s decisive penalty at the death tipped the match on its head.
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That contentious call in Melbourne was followed up by another in Auckland in which All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock was awarded a questionable try.
A touch-and-go cleanout by All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot was also skimmed over in the melee.
Although that decision had less impact on a match that was dominated by the home side, it led Stan Sport presenter Nick McArdle to raise questions.
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Post-match, he asked whether referees perceived the Wallabies to be “arrogant or maybe whingers.”
“You’re walking me down a path here, Nick,” Mitchell said.
“Look, If there is a perception, then perception is reality. If that’s the perception the ref is holding, let’s just assume they do… look, I’m guilty of it, we’re all guilty at times of whingeing because we’re emotionally invested in this.
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“When there is a 50/50, of course, you’re going to go to the bias where you’re emotionally invested. Last week I was against Mathieu Raynal because emotionally I felt like we got the wrong rub of the green.”
“It does work against you,” he added.
“You look at the way the ref spoke to Nic White today when he told him ‘If that was directed at me, you’re going off the field’. Ask me again, was it reinforced further? ‘Be really careful, be really careful’.
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“Those types of interactions with referees give you an insight as to how they feel or how they position themselves against these players or teams.”
Fellow ex-international Justin Harrison, however, came to the defence of the referees.
The former Wallabies lock, who played in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, suggested referees already have it hard enough as it is.
“It’s important to remember referees are under an enormous amount of pressure and most of the time they’re influenced by things like momentum of the game as well,” he reasoned.
“The All Blacks had all of the momentum for all of the last 60 minutes.”
The Wallabies will return home before the end-of-year European tour that will see them face Scotland in October then France, Italy, Ireland and Wales in November.
The All Blacks will next face Japan at the end of October before Test matches against Wales, Scotland and England in November.
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