Wallabies want 'Spidercam' review
Australia coach Michael Cheika and captain Stephen Moore claimed that when a high England kick struck the camera's support wires just after half-time, it deflected the ball to the tourists' advantage.
Flyhalf George Ford launched a high kick, only for the ball to strike the wire 20 metres above the ground and deflect away from the waiting Wallaby wing Dane Haylett-Petty. England lock Maro Itoje caught the ball and in the next phase scrumhalf Ben Youngs kicked towards the corner for a line-out on Australia's line.
England won the lineout against the throw and scored a go-ahead try through No.8 Billy Vunipola soon after.
Welsh referee Nigel Owens had to ask the players what had happened in the incident. Moore enquired whether it should be a scrum under the spot where the ball hit the wire but the match official ruled instead it had still been a "50-50 contest for the ball" and allowed play to go on.
Cheika and Moore questioned the fairness of the call after Australia's four-point loss that gave England a 3-0 series whitewash. Cheika disagreed with the referee's interpretation.
"No, it can't hit the camera wire and play on. He [Nigel Owens] said over the microphone '50-50 for each team'. No. If you are waiting to catch the ball and it [hits] the wire, you are all of a sudden out of position.
"And the ball has been kicked to us. I don't see how that can be play on. But what do you do?" Cheika said.
Under World Rugby's laws, the referee has discretion to determine if any team was disadvantaged by the ball hitting the wire and/or camera.
"I think there has to be a clear rule about that. If it hits the wire there has to be an outcome, doesn't it? I don't think you can say play on," Moore stated.
The Sydney incident is understood to be the first in international rugby. It has happened once before in cricket, but it is declared a "dead ball" if the 'Spidercam' or support wires are struck.
Agence France-Presse
