Wallabies coach Rennie sorry for post-Wales comments

Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie on Friday accepted a formal warning from World Rugby following critical comments he made about the officiating during Australia’s 29-28 defeat by Wales last week.

The New Zealander was angry that Wallaby full-back Kurtley Beale was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on while Wales centre Nick Tompkins was not called back after knocking down a ball and sprinting away for a Wales try.

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In a post-match interview, Rennie told Amazon Prime Video: “I thought some of the decision-making by the officials tonight was horrendous and played a big part in the result.

“Kurtley Beale got sin-binned for slapping the ball down. They (Wales) do the same thing, and it clearly goes forward and they get seven points out of us.

“We will end up getting an apology next week, but it won’t help the result. I thought we deserved better.”

World Rugby confirmed in a statement that it had issued a written warning to Rugby Australia and Rennie.

“Match officials are the backbone of the sport, and without them there is no game,” it said. 

“World Rugby condemns any public criticism of their selection, performance or integrity which undermines or threatens their role, the trust-based coach-officials feedback process and, more importantly, the values that are at the heart of the sport and must be upheld.”

Rugby Australia and Rennie said in a separate statement that they accepted the formal warning issued by the global governing body.

“Dave Rennie wishes to apologise to the match officials and to World Rugby for the choice of language used in post-match media commitments following the Wallabies’ Test match against Wales in Cardiff,” it said.

“The choice of language and its timing did not meet the standards required from a coach or official in upholding rugby’s core values of discipline, integrity and respect.”