Former All Blacks flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens has voiced his frustration with match officials after Wallabies centre Samu Kerevi was sent off in the record-breaking win over Wales in Cardiff.
Mehrtens, who was capped 70 times by the All Blacks, lashed out at the officiating after Australian centre Kerevi received a red card in the 42nd minute for a dangerous tackle that resulted in head-on-head contact with Welsh flanker Jac Morgan.
This did not stop the Wallabies from claiming a record 52-20 win in Cardiff and handing Wales their 11th consecutive defeat.
🟥 Samu Kerevi has his yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute ref for this hit… #WALvAUSpic.twitter.com/QQyae2SLZo
— Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) November 17, 2024
“I’ve kept my silence for long enough,” Mehrtens said on Stan Sport. “Here at ground level, it was really pronounced that Morgan dropped his height going into that tackle.
“Kerevi had no time to change to adjust there and I just think that we’re penalising players where they can’t actually do anything different. There’s got to be some culpability assigned to the attacking player if he drops his height late.”
Kerevi was initially given a yellow card by Kiwi referee James Doleman, but the sanction was deemed insufficient after South African TMO Marius van der Westhuizen upgraded the yellow to a 20 minute red card.
“I just feel really sorry for Samu Kerevi sitting off for a tackle he really couldn’t do anything about… eventually, someone’s got to say the emperor’s (referee) got no clothes or, more accurately here, the TMO’s got no idea,” Mehrtens added.
Australia’s head coach Joe Schmidt also questioned the decision to upgrade Kerevi’s yellow card on his 50th test appearance for the Wallabies.
“He is distraught. 50th game for the Wallabies and he gets a red card. He was trying to drop into the tackle, I thought,” Schmidt said after the match.
“We will look at that closely, and potentially ask some questions through the right channels.”
Former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison came in on the other side of the argument, believing Kerevi needed to take accountability for failing to adjust the height of his tackle.
“They’ll go to work now at looking at mitigating factors, rightly so yellow card,” Harrison said on Stan Sport.
“Samu Kerevi had plenty of time to adjust to hip height, at least chest, to get down. Now, they’ll look for mitigating factors. One of the mitigating factors is the ball carrier does dip into contact late and that may avoid the red card.”
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images