Wallabies star Lalakai Foteki has opened up about footage appearing to show him yelling at teammate Bernard Foley – insisting everything is not as it seems.
It comes in the wake of Australia’s devastating and highly controversial Bledisloe Cup loss to New Zealand last Thursday, in which referee Mathieu Raynal effectively sealed the Wallabies fate with a last-gasp penalty call.
With victory all but assured, Raynal penalised Foley for time-wasting, and vision quickly emerged of Foteki appearing to yell at his teammate to hurry up.
It’s been used by highly regarded ex-referee Nigel Owens as proof Raynal made the right call to blow the whistle for a decision derided by many as the worst in rugby union history.
Incredulous Wallabies player Nic White (21, left) and Bernard Foley (10, right) remonstrate with referee Mathieu Raynal after his controversial call cost Australia victory
That is far from the case, according to Foteki.
The star centre said he was just trying to make sure the right people were on the field for the final seconds of the match.
A despondent Lalakai Foteki (left) and Jordan Petaia after the Wallabies’ controversial loss
Foteki says he was not yelling at Foley, but yelling at the sideline over the deafening crowd noise to make sure the right players were on the field
‘We [the Wallabies] were so far away from the ref and the crowd was going crazy. [we] couldn’t hear anything,’ Foteki said of the now-viral video of him yelling.
‘I guess as a back’s perspective, we were out there and we kind of had the same people on the field and we just felt like we had an opportunity to win the game when we kick the ball out.
‘Obviously “Nard” [Foley] was looking at the forward pack huddled up and I think they were just trying to get their call ready for when we got the penalty and what we were going do in that last minute.
‘I just think that personnel changes and Nard was trying to figure out who was on the field and what calls was going on…
Source : dailymail
