Ben Smith might in trouble for this questionable incident
All Black Ben Smith might be in trouble here.
The incident happened during his second try.
In the immediate aftermath, Smith wasn’t quizzed on the incident. The fullback was asked what it was like not playing in the semi-final and producing such a good performance in the bronze final: “It’s just the way that rugby goes sometimes. The situation is what it is, with us playing in the third and fourth place game. The team fronted today and put in a performance that we can be happy with.”
“There are definitely feelings of sadness. I played a lot of rugby with some good mates in this team, and I had some good memories. There is a bit of sadness, and a bit of excitement of what comes next. But, yeah, I’ll leave with good memories, and I know it’s the right time to move on – it feels right.”
Knowing what citing commissioners are like, they may want to look at the below incident. Smith clearly makes contact with the head of the defending player, with his fingers clearly in the eye area of Tomos Williams, when fending off the scrumhalf.
For us, it’s just a hand-off, but who knows how this might go.
CREDIT: World Rugby
The GIF below shows the incident in clearer detail.
‘Get out!’
Will take some time for Tomos Williams to get Ben Smith’s handprint off his face #NZLvWAL #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/dVk3jtIzxv
— Steve Lenthall (@steve_l15) November 1, 2019
Smith will hopefully be let off this incident. For us, it’s clearly a fair hand off.
“And I’m looking forward now to sitting back and watching the All Blacks, and some top talent that’s coming through to represent our country.”
He gave his bronze medal to his daughter for goodness sake: “It was a bit of a fight between my daughter and my son to see who took it. They obviously enjoyed getting out there, and I think that’s what this game is about – bringing people along for the ride.
“My family’s a big part of what I do. It’s good to have the family out there, have them run around and enjoy just being kids really.
“They were pretty pumped to put a medal around their neck, but obviously not quite what we were after.”
Ben Smith is a legend though. Hope he doesn’t get in trouble.
