The Mathieu Raynal case takes a new turn. The Australian Rugby Federation has decided to file a complaint.
A decision that has always been difficult to approve. Seven days after the match between Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) decided to make a formal complaint to World Rugby seeking an explanation from rugby’s governing body.
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As a reminder, with 90 seconds remaining in the match, Mathieu Raynal conceded a scrum for the All Blacks, 5 meters from the Australian in-goal, when he had awarded the Wallabies a penalty. This happened after the flagrant stoppage of time by the Australian starter, Bernard Foley, despite the warnings of the Catalan referee. From behind, the New Zealanders managed to score the winning try (37-39) by Jordie Barrett.
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For its part, inevitably frustrated, the ARU points out the inconsistency of Perpignanais in the arbitration of the loss of time in the match: at 71me minute, the Blacks’ high midfielder, Richie Mo’unga, took 85 seconds to take his penalty without being called to order, or the match statistics that show just over 12 minutes of effective play in a first half that lasted more of 51 minutes. The Australian federation will do everything possible to try to discredit this decision at the end of the match.
Therefore, the Raynal case is not over. In addition, the Catalan – who has just been named the best referee in the Top 14 – will be on the sidelines of… New Zealand-Australia, Saturday at 09:05.
Contacted by us earlier in the week, Mathieu Raynal did not want to react.