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Hurricanes coach Jason Holland believes officials made the wrong Ardie Savea yellow card decision and awarded the Blues a try penalty at Eden Park on Saturday night.
The Blues won the game 27-17 and were clearly the better team in the second half, but there was a contentious moment in the 31st minute when the Hurricanes captain was sent off for sin and the Blues awarded seven points by referee Brendon Pickerill. , for collapsing a maul near its line.
After the game, the Netherlands were clearly unhappy with that decision.
“They have to make sure the greats do well,” Holland said.
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“He has seven points with a penalty try and a no-bin and you can’t play with 14 and create tempo.
“When there are big calls like that, they have to be successful.”
Phil Walter / Getty Images
Ardie Savea was one of two Hurricanes players to receive a yellow card against the Blues.
When asked if he thought the officials got it right, Holland replied, “No, I don’t. It was difficult, but you understand them, they go both ways, it is unfortunate that they are big changes in the game. “
Savea was the second Hurricanes player to receive a yellow card in the first half, as in the 17th minute Du’Plessis Kirifi was off duty for 10 minutes to clear Otere Black into a ruck and make contact with his head.
“I think it was a fair decision,” Holland said.
“Doops (Du’Plessis) was a bit reckless there. I wasn’t close enough to the ball and I think it slid over my shoulder and onto the nape of my neck.
“If that goes to a red card in a soccer game, the game is for the dogs.”
Despite the two yellow cards, the Hurricanes stayed in the game during the first half and were only down 10-9 at halftime, which was something that pleased the Netherlands.
Brett phibbs
Otere Black was hit on the head by Du’Plessis Kirifi in the first half of the Blues game against the Hurricanes.
“We’ve worked hard on things that don’t go our way and on being able to move on to the next moment and nail the next bit and I thought the guys did well.
“We had Doops and Ards (Savea) in the bin for 10 minutes each in that first half and we definitely won the first when Doops was out.
“The guys reacted very well and that was incredible for us, with our mental strength there to switch to the next role.
“These are big changes, but I was very proud of how the guys spent those 20 minutes.”
This loss leaves the Hurricanes with just one win in five games and hopes of reaching the Super Rugby Aotearoa final are fading.
However, the Highlanders’ surprise 33-12 win over the Crusaders, against whom the Hurricanes play, in Christchurch on Friday gave everyone hope that this year’s competition is still on the line.
“I didn’t need to see that, know that already,” Holland said.
“But the mountaineers were impressive. We can take something away from them with the way they attacked the crusaders.
“They attacked them when they had the ball and when they didn’t have it.
“Everybody knows in this competition that when one team does well and the other doesn’t, they will win no matter who you are.
“We can’t do anything with the Blues, so now we’ll look at the Crusaders and make sure we attack with the same vigor that we saw last night from the Highlanders.”
