Coach Dave Rennie slammed referee Mike Adamson and his team of officials after the Wallabies’ rollercoaster 29-28 loss to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.
Australia conceded a penalty at the death as they slumped to a one-point defeat that condemned them to a first winless end-of-year tour in Europe in 45 years.
The Wallabies played the majority of the match with 14 men after No 8 Rob Valetini was sent off for a reckless head clash with Wales lock Adam Beard in the 15th minute.
However, Wales were spared a similar fate when replacement prop Gareth Thomas escaped a red card sanction after a deliberate act of foul and dangerous play saw him drive his shoulder onto the head of an already grounded Wallabies player next to a ruck.
But it was the decision to award a try to Nick Tompkins in the second half which really riled Rennie.
With the Wallabies on attack and looking to exploit an overlap out wide, the Wales centre stuck out a hand and deliberately knocked the ball down. He then grabbed the ball and scuttled away to score under the posts, all the while the Australians had stopped playing thinking the referee would call play back for the illegal act.
But after much deliberation with his fellow officials, the Scottish referee awarded the try with the explanation that the ball had not travelled forward when Tompkins slapped it down.
“I thought some of the decision-making tonight by the officials was horrendous and played a big part in the result,” Rennie said.
“Kurtley Beale got sin-binned for slapping the ball down. They did the same thing, clearly goes forward and they get seven points out of it.
“If we’re going to have a TMO, there’s no excuse for not getting the decision right, and we saw another example of that tonight. Everyone’s accountable – or they should be. We’re accountable as players and coaches, and we’ve got to make sure officials are also accountable.
“So obviously really disappointed with the result. We’ll end up getting an apology next week [from World Rugby] no doubt, but it won’t help the result.”
