Origin II referee Ashley Klein has been slammed for his decision to sin-bin Felise Kaufusi just minutes before half-time, with the call allowing the NSW Blues to take a lead into the sheds.
Trailing the match 12-8 following Cameron Munster‘s converted try, the Blues put the Maroons’ defence under immense pressure in the final five minutes of the first half.
The Blues received multiple repeat sets due to penalty calls from Klein, before he eventually gave Kaufusi his marching orders in the 39th minute. Kaufusi was pinged for spending an extra few seconds on top of Junior Paulo as the Blues star attempted to play the ball.
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Blues winger Brian To’o scored just 17 seconds after Kaufusi was sent from the field, before Nathan Cleary converted the try to give the Blues a 14-12 lead at the break.
The call left former Blues coach Phil Gould and ex-Queensland coach Paul Vautin seething.
“I’m disappointed in the sin bin for the game’s sake, but let’s hope that doesn’t decide the result,” Gould said on Nine’s coverage.
“I hate sin bins at the best of times, let alone in an Origin. I don’t think there was ever a warning here.
“He (Klein) just ruled four or five (penalties) in the space of a minute and then just had enough and sent him (Kaufusi) off.
“Now, they’ll justify that, but Origin football or any football, I don’t think it should’ve got to that point.
“All those six agains he gave to get them into sin bin territory, you’d need a magnifying glass to work out exactly what had gone wrong or why it needed to be penalised.
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“The fact that they’re six agains and not penalty kicks for goal means they just give them away like smarties. You don’t need it, it’s Origin football.”
“There was five in a row, it’s a gee-up,” a fuming Vautin added.
“No one knows what they’re for. No one here knows, no one at home knows, we don’t know and we’re so-called experts.”
Klein’s call to bin Kaufusi left Queensland skipper Daly Cherry-Evans baffled as the referee attempted to explain himself. Here’s how the exchange between the two took place:
Klein: “He (Kaufusi) was right on him (Junior Paulo). There’s at least three ruck penalties and an escort penalty.”
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Cherry-Evans: “They’re all different!”
Klein: “There’s too many in a very, very short space of time. That’s not acceptable.”
Cherry-Evans: “That’s fine, as long as it’s both ways.”
Kaufusi returned to the game in the 48th minute and joined an incredibly weary Maroons side, which conceded a try to the Blues through Daniel Tupou shortly after his return.