World Rugby breaks silence on World Cup final error report

World Rugby breaks silence on World Cup final error report

World Rugby has issued a statement in which they fail to deny or confirm whether they’d privately acknowledged that the All Blacks were robbed in the World Cup final against the Springboks.

All Blacks New Zealand

According to a claim that made the rounds in New Zealand media on Monday, World Rugby secretly told the All Blacks that their try that was disallowed in the World Cup final should have stood.

The disputed try that was chalked off was scored by All Blacks scrumhalf Aaron Smith. In the 54th minute, teammate Richie Mo’unga broke through the Springboks defense, and Smith ended up receiving the final pass. However, the five-pointer was removed from the record because Ardie Savea had fouled during the build-up.

According to World Rugby’s mid-2022 protocol update, television match official Tom Foley detected the knock-on four phases prior to Smith’s effort, which is believed to have surpassed the two-phase limit for TMO reviews.

New Zealand’s Stuff reports that World Rugby has agreed in secret that the contentious decision violated the rules, but has not officially acknowledged it.

The report drew a lot of criticism on social media, with many commentators making fun of World Rugby for cowardly doing the same in private after the All Blacks demanded answers following their final defeat, after previously publicly standing by and denouncing anyone who dared to criticize its match officials.

WORLD RUGBY STATEMENT ON PRIVATE MESSAGE TO ALL BLACKS

In response to the negative media coverage, World Rugby released a brief statement on Tuesday stating that the governing body supports their match officials.

But the ruling body doesn’t explicitly refute or affirm the claim that they told the All Blacks in private that the TMO erred in denying Smith’s attempt.

“As stated before the Rugby World Cup 2023, World Rugby does not make public comments regarding decisions made by match officials.

“We support our amazing team of match officials, who do one of the most difficult tasks in professional sports to an extraordinary degree.

“As we have seen in recent months, sadly, criticism of match officials can have wide-ranging consequences, including online hate and threats, and we must be mindful of such a human impact.”

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