The game was close, for about 17 minutes.
New Zealand survived a Jordie Barrett red card, after 28 minutes, and finished the game with 15 men after scoring six tries in their latest Bledisloe Cup encounter.
The All Blacks were winning 13-0 when Barrett, playing at fullback, jumped to field a high ball. His right foot flexed out as he caught the ball and connected with the head of Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete.
Should Barrett have seen Red? 🟥🤔 pic.twitter.com/s4wLxj65X9
— Sky Sports Rugby Union (@SkySportsRugby) September 5, 2021
There was no ill intent from Barrett, but referee Damon Murphy deemed the raised foot to be dangerous play. As he connected with the head of Koroibete, the ref brandished a red card and the ABs were down to 14 men.
However, as The Rugby Championship is trialling new law, Barrett was back in the pitch in the second half. The championship is testing out a law variation that sees players that get a red card only sent off for 20 minutes. They can then get replaced by a teammate for the remainder of the match, once that 20 minutes have expired.
As it was Damien McKenzie took the place of Barrett and, after 48 minutes, New Zealand were back to their full complement of players.
New Zealand were 18-0 up, at that stage, and were never going to lose from there. The Aussies did put up a bit of a second half fight, though, with Folau Fainga’a, Nic White and Tom Banks all crossing for what were consolation scores in a 38-21 victory.
Even with another win over their Trans-Tasman rivals in the bag, some were still not happy with the Barrett red card, including former All Black Julian Savea:
Most ridiculous call I’ve ever seen 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
— Julian Savea (@juliansavea7) September 5, 2021
It remains to be seen if Barrett will now face a ban for the red card incident or if the flick-kick be seen as accidental. As it stands, The Rugby championship is shaping up as a shoot-out between the All Blacks and South Africa.
