Another bizarre referee call leaves fans irate

SOCIAL REACTION: A contentious try by veteran second row Sam Whitelock has left many fans scratching their heads after the All Blacks defeated the Wallabies in Auckland on Saturday.

In a big turnaround from last week’s epic Bledisloe Cup drama in Melbourne, the men in black romped to a relatively easy 40-14 victory at Eden Park.

Yet Whitelock’s try still rankled as many believe it was a Wallaby that grounded the ball and not the All Black.

Irish referee Andrew Brace on-field decision was that the try was good and he referred it to Welsh TMO Ben Whitehouse, who made the call that there was no reason not to award it.

However many fans watching at home believe that it was in fact Wallaby No.8 Angus Bell’s hand that grounded the ball.

Some are even calling it the ‘first own try’ in rugby.

*Below is a video of the contentious touchdown.

The counter-argument being made by others is that both players were holding the ball, although from the footage it’s hard to determine who was in control of the ball when it was grounded, although Bell seemed to be getting the better of it.

Whitehouse said that they were in ‘simultaneous control’ but that the All Blacks had had possession of the ball first and that he had no ‘clear evidence’ that a try had not been scored.

Even Springbok legend Breyton Paulse was shocked and had major questions about the try.

Meanwhile, EK Analysis saw merit in the argument that both players were holding the ball, arguing Whitelock should get the try as he never lost control.

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