Referee Matthew Carley was not willing to hear any of the All Blacks’ pleas of foul play in the latter stages of the clash against the Springboks in Cape Town.

The English match official brushed off the concerns of All Blacks’ strength and conditioning coach, Nic Gill, who believed that the Springboks should have penalised for a high tackle on Jordie Barrett.

Not off your referral. You’re a medic.”

The events in question occurred shortly after Damian McKenzie crucially missed a penalty that would have put the All Blacks back in the lead inside the final ten minutes of the match.

Bok fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked long from the 22-metre restart, finding Beauden Barrett who shifted it onto his brother Jordie to charge up into the South African defence.

The centre charged into the tackle of Kwagga Smith who was assisted by Elrigh Louw but Barrett was slow to get back to feet. The All Blacks looked to get the ball wide but the sloppy play led to Beauden deciding to kick which was charged down by Damian de Allende.

Jaden Hendrikse would kick from the ensuing ruck and Cheslin Kolbe chased only to be impeded by Tyrel Lomax who was subsequently yellow-carded.

It was during the review and once Lomax had been sent to the sin bin that Gill and captain Scott Barrett raised their concerns for the high tackle on Jordie Barrett who had begun to bleed from his nose and was receiving treatment.

Gill had notified the skipper of the incident who raised it with Carley who initially ignored the pleas calling for Lomax so he could issue the yellow card.

Barrett raised it again with Carley who said: “If there is something clear and then we will [look at it] but we not going to look at on a captain’s referral, okay.”

Several All Blacks continued to plea with Carley who added “just stop” before checking if Jordie needed to leave the pitch as a blood replacement.

“So, you can go back and look?” Gill asked Carley.

And the referee responded by saying: “Not off your referral. You’re a medic. Thank you.”

It proved to be a pivotal moment in the match as Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked to the corner setting up the lineout that Malcolm Marx would ultimately score from to seal the victory for the Springboks.

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🗣️ Matthew Carley brushes off All Blacks' calls for a high tackle, telling S&C coach Nic Gill: "[We not check it] off your referral. You're a medic. Thank you.''#RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/08nr3ZLOBU

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) September 9, 2024

While there wasn’t an official review, the incident would have been checked in the background by TMO Ian Tempest who under current directives would have needed to find something clear and obvious in order to bring play back.

I think that is another one of the examples that I used before, to describe the small margins and how things can change the dynamics of the game,” Scott Robertson said after the match.

Look, you would have heard Scooter [captain Scott Barrett]. Scott talked to them numerous times to ‘please look at that incident’, they felt it was okay on the field and played on.

“They kicked for the corner and then they got a try. It just shows in that interpretation. You know it’s in the hands of the ref and how they interpret all those situations.”

Robertson added that the All Blacks would leave the incident to the citing commissioner to decide whether it deserved further sanction much like the Springboks did with Sam Cane’s tackle on Jordie Barrett.