Former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons has condemned the controversial time-wasting call that saw the All Blacks snatch a last-gasp win and retain the Bledisloe Cup at Melbourne.
Australia looked set to complete a famous come-from-behind victory, having been awarded a penalty with a three-point lead in the last minute.
But first-five Bernard Foley was stripped of the ball by referee Mathieu Raynal after he was ruled to have been deliberately running the clock down.
The All Blacks were awarded possession right in front of the goalposts, allowing fullback Jordie Barrett to dive over in the corner for the go-ahead try and seal an unlikely victory.
Immediately after the game, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie criticised the ref's decision to intervene and for lacking a "feel" for the situation.
FitzSimons echoed those sentiments and while he admits the decision may have been correct by the letter of the law, he believes it wasn't made in the spirit of the game.
"Probably technically and it was probably on the fifth paragraph on the 43rd page of a 740-page rule book - spiritually no," he told Newshub Late.
"The guts of it was, this was a titanic struggle between two mighty teams, a struggle for the ages and it was not right this titanic struggle be sunk, be decided by a tiny French iceberg.
"It should've been decided by the 30 men and I don't say this nastily about the French ref - even when I was playing, I was never much whining at the ref, the refs have got to do their best.
"But it was such a pity, if we take who's a Kiwi and who's an Australian out of it and look at that wonderful game, with the lead changing hands, nearly 80 points scored.
"For it to be decided by a whistle and you've taken one second too long. Foley was in the process of kicking the ball, I mean, give it one second."
New Zealand's win sees them lock away the Bledisloe Cup for another year, having been holders of the trophy since winning it in 2003.
But despite the result, FitzSimons shut down any comparisons with All Blacks teams of old, and doesn't believe the result means the men in black "are back".
"No, they're not. The All Blacks of previous years, when they came out onto the field, there's this shimmering blackness just above them," he said.
"You look closely and you go 'you guys look invincible, you guys look like you're the best team in the world, you guys look like multi-world champions.'"
The Wallabies now face the daunting task of having to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, with the return fixture at Eden Park next Saturday.
But FitzSimons believes despite the heart-breaking loss, Australia will be the team heading to Auckland with more confidence.
"And this team [All Blacks], they look like a pretty strong team, they look pretty good, but there's no shimmering aura of invincibility about them, they look like men, they look like they're beatable," he said.
"Surely that confidence will go with them and equally, just as our blokes will go there with some confidence, your blokes have got to go there with a little bit of doubt."
