All Blacks senior assistant coach Neil Barnes has taken aim at referee Karl Dickson following South Africa's 43-28 victory in Baltimore on Saturday, which sealed a 3-1 Greatest Rivalry series win for the Springboks in front of a USA rugby record crowd of more than 68,000 at M&T Bank Stadium.
Barnes argued that the Springboks benefited from favourable officiating throughout the match, singling out brake-foot penalties as a particular grievance. "Every time they keep getting penalties for bugger all and get to slow the game down, it brings them back into it," he told Newstalk ZB. "We get two penalties against us at the start of the game for a brake foot, which no one really gives a s*** about, but the referees are concentrating on. And when you look at the video, both teams have done exactly the same thing at the same time."
Barnes did acknowledge South Africa's quality, stopping short of disputing their status as the world's leading side. "Clearly they're probably, fair to say, the better team tonight," he conceded, while maintaining that the margin between the two teams is narrower than the scoreline and series result suggest. "The more I reflect, the more I know we're seriously close to them. Probably just not getting the rub of the green or getting a lot of luck in close moments at the moment."
He pointed to a critical 20-minute passage in the second half as the turning point. "There's a couple of moments swinging with about 20 minutes to go where two or three times in a row we have come out on the wrong side of a close call which let them skip away from us a little bit."
Despite the 3-1 series defeat — which followed six weeks of Tests in South Africa before the Baltimore finale — Barnes expressed confidence in the direction Dave Rennie's side is heading. "I definitely think we're on the right track. We've got to fine-tune things. It's been a hell of a tour, something that we're pretty proud of what we've achieved on the way."
The Springboks outscored the All Blacks six tries to four across the 80 minutes in Baltimore.