Coach Ian Foster says the All Blacks will contest Jordie Barrett's red card, after the fullback was sent off for putting his boot into the face of Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete during the 38-21 win in Perth.
Barrett jumped to catch a high ball and his foot made contact with Koroibete in mid-air during the first half of the Rugby Championship match at Perth Stadium.
The contact appeared accidental, but Australian referee Damon Murphy wasted little time reaching for the card, after the incident was replayed on screen.
"Pretty surprised, to be honest," Foster says of the decision. "We'll go and have a good look at it, but certainly, we'll probably be putting a bit of a case together for that one.
"He just lost balance and you could see he tilted [in the air].
"I feel sorry for the refs in situations like this, because technically, they saw things and they make their decision, so I get all that."
If found guilty of dangerous play, Barrett faces suspension, but his ejection did not hurt the All Blacks too much on the day, partly because of a tweak to the red-card rule being trialled during the Rugby Championship.
Barrett, who scored the All Blacks' first try in the 17th minute, had to sit out the rest of the match, but was replaced by Damian McKenzie after 20 minutes.
Previously, the All Blacks would have had to play out the test with 14 men, as happened in the 2019 clash at Perth Stadium in 2019, when Barrett's brother and teammate Scott was red-carded before halftime in the 47-26 defeat by the Wallabies.
"We probably benefited from only having a 20-minute red card," Foster adds. "I get that, but we were a keen supporter of that [rule change] even before the games and I think today's thing probably justifies it."
Foster was buoyed by the six-try win over the Wallabies, which completed a 3-0 series sweep in the Bledisloe Cup.
The All Blacks next face winless Argentina on the Gold Coast, as they look for a third straight victory in the Rugby Championship.
"Pretty delighted," says Foster of the team's performance on Sunday. "It was far from perfect, but the attitude was perfect and that's the part that makes me happy."
Reuters.
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