Wallaby Lalakai Foteki explains why he yelled at Bernard Foley before awful Bledisloe Cup ref’s call

Wallabies star Lalakai Foteki has been candid about footage that appears to show him yelling at teammate Bernard Foley – insisting that all is not as it seems.

It comes in the wake of Australia’s devastating and highly controversial Bledisloe Cup loss to New Zealand last Thursday, in which referee Mathieu Raynal effectively sealed Wallabies’ fate with one last gasp.

With the win all but certain, Raynal chastised Foley for wasting time, and soon came a vision of Foteki appearing to be yelling at his teammate to hurry up.

It has been used by highly regarded ex-referee Nigel Owens as proof that Raynal made the right decision to whistle for a decision which many have derided as the worst in rugby union history.

That is far from the case, according to Foteki.

The star center said it was just trying to make sure the right people were on the pitch for the final seconds of the game.

A despondent Lalakai Foteki (left) and Jordan Petaia after the controversial loss to the Wallabies

Foteki says he didn’t yell at Foley, but yelled on the sidelines above the deafening noise of the crowd to make sure the right players were on the pitch

‘We [the Wallabies] were so far away from the referee and the crowd went crazy. [we] couldn’t hear anything,” Foteki said of the now viral video of him screaming.

“I think as a back’s perspective, we were there and we had pretty much the same people on the pitch and we just felt like we had a chance to win the game if we kicked the ball out.

“Obviously “Nard” [Foley] looked at the front pack huddled and I think they were just trying to get their call ready for when we got the penalty and what we were going to do in that last minute.

“I just think the staff changes and Nard was trying to figure out who was on the field and what was going on before we made our next move and that was to kick the ball out.”

Fuming Wallabies skipper Nic White protested to Raynal after the match, telling him that the call to punish Foley when he was ‘two seconds’ away from kicking ‘cost Australia the rugby championship’.

Wallabies skipper Nic White tells Mathieu Raynal he ‘cost Australia the rugby championship’

Raynal was knocked down not only by current and former Wallabies greats, but also by prominent rugby unions around the world.

Exhausted ex-Wallaby Matt Giteau tweeted: ‘A super match arguably ruined by that last call… I can’t believe it. Congratulations @AllBlacks &@wallabies on an unreal game! What a cruel ending’, after the controversial ending.

Commentator Tim Horan called the decision “outrageous” and said Raynal was “bursting under the pressure”; while Australian coach Dave Rennie also denounced the controversial statement, telling reporters: ‘I’ve never seen a call like this at any level.’

Even All Blacks greats like Sir John Kirwan, Andrew Mehrtens and Jeff Wilson rejected the call.

Bernard Foley was furious after the match over the decision to punish him for wasting time

“He had every right to make that decision, I think it was not appropriate in this case,” Wilson told Sky Sport in New Zealand.

Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui, who commented on the game, also pointed out, as did Wilson, that there was clearly a double standard in the game.

“There is a law that you have 90 seconds from scoring the attempt to make the conversion,” he said.

‘[But] twice in the game the All Blacks went past 90 seconds and the referee rightly didn’t ruin the game by being pedantic and calling off the conversion attempt.”

Gutted Wallabies players Marika Koroibete (left) and Reece Hodge (right) hug after Australia’s heartbreaking loss

Anyway, Foteki made it clear that Foley bore no responsibility for the farcical ending of the match.

“There was no disbelief and no feeling that the All Blacks would walk away from us,” he said.

“It was just the belief that the leaders and Nard (Foley) who came in kept under control and gave us our next role and we’re just getting there.

“When we got on the pitch when we were a few points behind, I felt like we were still well on our way to just keep doing what we were doing and stay in the game.

“He (Foley) doesn’t have to apologize,” Foteki said.

Rieko Ioane and David Havili of the All Blacks celebrate with the Bledisloe Cup after the side’s controversial win

With the Bledisloe Cup now out of their reach – for the 20th year in a row – as well as the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies will try to show the disappointment behind them as they cross the ditch for Saturday night’s Test.

Australia hasn’t beaten New Zealand in over 35 years at Auckland’s iconic Eden Park – but the men in green and gold will be fired up for revenge.