The first half of Ireland’s test match against the All Blacks wasn’t without its controversy.
New Zealand scored a contentious try in the opening half as Beauden Barrett was adjudged to have grounded the ball although replays appeared to suggest that Johnny Sexton’s heroics may have been enough to prevent the score.
Sexton was in hot pursuit of Barrett all the way and got the tackle in just as the Kiwi dove to the ground. It looked as if Sexton managed to get himself between the ball and the ground at the right time in order to stop the ball from being touched down.
The referee went to the TMO to get a second opinion who eventually awarded the try that saw the All Blacks go 12-3 up. However, each time the replay was shown on the big screen, the Irish crowd cheered as they thought Sexton had done enough to stop the try.
Controversial second try for New Zealand as the referee says he saw the ball grounded, but……….. https://t.co/nZLbxBjTQ0
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) November 19, 2016
A lot of viewers at home also disagreed with the call.
I thought Sexton had stopped that try #Comeonireland
— Austin Healey (@IamAustinHealey) November 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/Pendred/status/800042828093067264
That was clearly held up by sexton no try #IREvNZL
— Neil Whiskerd (@Lami999) November 19, 2016
plus the ref bottled it for second #NewZealand try. no groundin #IREvNZL
— Keith McNamara (@Keith_Mac39) November 19, 2016
