Ref Poite got it wrong but Warburton worked his diplomatic magic

By Shane Williams
THIS WAS an incredible achievement by the Lions. I don’t understand those people who are saying it was a damp squib of an ending because to draw a series in the toughest rugby nation on earth is something that must be applauded.
But let’s get one thing straight here, the Lions got out of jail with that penalty decision at the end of the game. For me, it was a clear offence by Ken Owens, as unlucky as he was. I have to stress that the late drama shouldn’t detract from the Lions’ achievement, but I’m also keen to point out that Romain Poite’s reversal of his decision is something that surprised me. For me, it was the wrong call. It’s a penalty, every day of the week. Ken’s reaction tells you everything.
When the ball fell to him from the kick-off, Ken’s initial movement is to grab it. When he does that, he realises what he has done – that he’s committed an offence – and moves to get out of the way. I know people have been debating the merits of the law, but at the last World Cup something similar happened between Scotland and Australia. That’s vitally important.
The Wallabies ended up with the penalty in that controversial game, Bernard Foley kicked the goal, and that as they say, was that. That’s what I was expecting here, for Beauden Barrett to go on and win the game, not that the kick was a guarantee by any stretch.
That it didn’t happen was a huge shock to me. Poite showed nerves of steel to change his mind and in one sense I do admire the confidence he had in his decision making, plus his overall dealings with his assistants and TMO. On the whole, I thought he handled the game very well, but in my eyes he was wrong to reverse his decision to award the penalty.
If he hadn’t done that, we’d be talking about a Lions series defeat and it’s a totally different ball game. It’s all ifs and buts, I know, but I think the All Blacks will be pretty disappointed with what happened. I know Steve Hansen didn’t want to criticise Poite afterwards, but you couldn’t blame them for being annoyed. If I was in the New Zealand team, I would be.
The other key thing I’d like to highlight is the role of Sam Warburton in what went on. Sam’s performances in the last two Tests have been simply incredible. As well as that, we all know how good he is at building a relationship with the referee. It’s one of his best attributes as a leader and we saw him give an absolute masterclass in that at Eden Park. Having a rapport with the match officials is so important nowadays and there’s no one better at it than Sam. He approached Poite calmly, politely asked if he could take a look at the incident with the TMO, and got his rewards with a little bit of luck. That’s why Sam is a brilliant captain for me. He performs on the biggest of stages, never takes a backward step, and rallies those around him. I can’t stress enough my praise for him as a player and a bloke.
It was understandable that everyone was talking about the late penalty after the game. But once the dust settles on this tour, we’ll realise how special the Lions’ achievement has been. No, they didn’t win the series and yes they struggled to play attacking rugby at times and, yes, they maybe could have probably gone up a notch or two. But to come away from New Zealand undefeated in the Test series is something not many people would have thought possible a couple of months ago.
For me, it became clear after the Crusaders game that certain players were going to be key men in the Tests and that certainly happened. One of those was Jonathan Davies and he’s had a superb tour.
He fully deserved his award as players’ player, he’s been exceptional. Jon hasn’t had much praise with Wales, maybe because he likes to avoid the limelight.
But he’s a world-class centre at the top of his game. You don’t play six straight Lions Tests for nothing. First,  his defence has been immaculate all tour. He made a couple of excellent reads on Jordie Barrett at Eden Park and his cover tackle on Ngani Laumape was brilliant. He offers more than that, though. In attack he’s been really sharp and hopefully he carries that form into next season with Wales.
Jonathan would certainly be my overall player of the tour. There were, though, other impressive performers. Maro Itoje was one. The bloke is just a freak. His engine is on a different level, and to see him rip one ball off Samuel Whitelock was like watching someone take candy from a baby. That doesn’t happen to guys like Whitelock, and Maro has given a huge amount of energy to the side after not starting the first Test. He’s virtually certain to be on the next tour to South Africa in 2021.
One other guy I want to mention is Mako Vunipola, left. He copped a lot of heat for his poor discipline last weekend, but he hit back at the critics. He worked really hard around the pitch, is an excellent all-round prop and was definitely the best loosehead on this tour.
The Lions is the perfect package. The players love it, the coaches love it, the supporters clearly love it. This trip showed me there will be Lions tours for years to come and when we look back, we can say that the men who played in 2017 did a pretty impressive job of representing the famous red shirt.