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Cape Town - All Blacks captain Kieran Read believes Springbok wing Makazole Mapimpi deserved a yellow card in the first half of their Rugby World Cup clash in Yokohama on Saturday.
Trailing 3-0 after the first quarter, the All Blacks surged up-field and looked set to score only for Mapimpi to lie on the ball, preventing it from coming out.
French referee Jerome Garces went upstairs to television match official Graham Hughes but the decision was made to only award New Zealand a penalty, with Mapimpi spared the sin-bin.
Read, however, believes it was a professional foul and according to a report on the NZ Herald website, alled Garces' decision "gutless".
According to Spark Sport commentator Scotty Stevenson, Read was fuming with the call.
"Kieran Read's words if you did not hear them were 'that's pretty gutless'," Stevenson said.
It was nevertheless the moment the sparked the All Blacks into action as they scored 17 points in a five-minute period and eventually ran out 23-13 victors.
Read, meanwhile, was also in the news after video footage emerged of him taking out Springbok flank Pieter-Steph du Toit at a lineout.
The incident went unpunished by Garces and Read was also not cited within the mandatory 24-hour period following the match.
READ more on the All Blacks' response to the incident here
- Compiled by Herman Mostert
