Warren Gatland has branded Samu Kerevi’s attempted chargedown of Leigh Halfpenny’s clearance kick reckless, worthy of at least a penalty, but he rose above the noise calling loudly for consistency from officials.
Wales 9-6 Australia: rugby union international – as it happened
“I thought it was reckless,” he said. “It was potentially a penalty or a yellow card. He was going to make contact with him but he has left that shoulder in. He could have turned his back or put an arm out to soften the blow. But I’m not worried about consistency. It is a tough job out there for a referee. If the referee puts his hand up and says he has made a mistake I am happy enough with that.”
This time the referee, Ben O’Keefe, decided, without consulting the TMO, that there was nothing Kerevi could do, that the contact was accidental. None of which changed the fact that Halfpenny, after a torrid match in which he had missed two easy penalties in the first half and found a measure of redemption in the second, had to be removed for a head injury assessment.
“I didn’t think I would see the day when Leigh would miss two in front of the posts,” Gatland said. “You know what he’s like. I wasn’t worried about him missing the kicks, it was more how it would affect the rest of his game. He is so focused. His performance was outstanding. He ran really well. If he had missed kicks like that in the past his game might have gone to pieces, but world-class players don’t let that happen.”
Wales break losing run against Australia with late Dan Biggar penalty
On a run of seven wins and ensconced behind New Zealand and Ireland in third place in the world rankings, Wales approach the rest of November with confidence. Further wins against Tonga and South Africa would represent their first autumn clean sweep. Gatland is evidently excited about the way his squad is developing with the World Cup less than a year away. Wales will meet Australia there too, which makes this win after 13 consecutive losses to the same, all the more positive. The Wallabies are looking less happy. This was their eighth defeat in 11. Had they kicked either of two easy penalties in the second half, the outcome might have been different, but when you are on a losing run every decision seems to go wrong.
“If I had my time again, I would have gone for the shot,” said their captain, Michael Hooper. “I backed our guys, but probably my reading of the game was amiss.”