The All Blacks' three-Test series over France have confirmed a couple of things that we suspected: New Zealand remain miles better than the French and they still enjoy their, er, unique influence on referees. The first Test turned on an exceptionally harsh sin-binning, while Sam Cane got away with an appalling challenge that left a French player with a fractured skull.
It's always been fairly clear that New Zealand get the benefit of most refereeing decisions, but they took this to a high art against France this morning.
Damien McKenzie ran in a crucial try just after the half-hour mark, but he had the benefit of John Lacey blocking a French tackler so as to make McKenzie's path to the try line clear. Incredibly, the try was awarded.
Even New Zealand commentator Justin Marshall was abashed by the decision, exclaiming "Oh my God! That is bad".
While Lacey should have disallowed the try is he had an ounce of common sense, it is technically the correct decision as there is nothing in the laws of the game to forbid an incident of this kind: the referee is only allowed to stop play if the ball touches him, rather than another player. The laws need to be changed.
