In a heated moment of the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series, controversy erupted over Damian de Allende’s try in the match between the Springboks and the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium. The try, which occurred in the 22nd minute, played a pivotal role in South Africa's 33-26 triumph, evening out the series at one apiece.
Two former All Blacks, Mils Muliaina and James Parsons, have voiced strong concerns that the try was scored unfairly. They argue that Deon Fourie, the Bok hooker, obstructed All Black flanker Simon Parker, preventing him from effectively tackling De Allende.
“There’s where he goes through, right? If Parker gets there a couple of seconds earlier, he could have made a dominant tackle,” Muliaina remarked on Sky Sport. “How can you not check that? When you’ve checked everything else? That’s obvious.”
Parsons expressed frustration over the officiating, suggesting that Fourie's action was intentional and should have led to the try being disallowed.
“He didn’t even try to get back. He purposely created that space. I don’t want to sound like a whinger, but that’s not a try.”
During the match, TMO Brett Cronan and referee Angus Gardner did review the passage of play, but their attention was focused on a potential forward pass by Bok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, not the possible obstruction.
“It’s not clearly and obviously forward, so I’m going to go through to the grounding to confirm that,” stated Cronan. Gardner confirmed that the ball had indeed gone backwards before touching a foot, and thus, De Allende's grounding of the ball was allowed.
The contentious try pushed the Boks ahead to a 17-7 lead early in the game, setting the stage for a tense match where they eventually managed to stave off a robust comeback attempt by the All Blacks. The dispute over the try adds another layer of drama to this fiercely competitive series.
The teams are scheduled to face off once more at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg next Saturday, promising another exhilarating clash in one of rugby’s most storied rivalries.
