Rory Best refuses to criticise referee Romain Poite after Lions draw
Rory Best refused to criticise referee Romain Poite after the British and Irish Lions were held to a 31-31 draw by the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Poite sent lock Iain Henderson to the sin-bin for a tip-tackle on Jordie Barrett in the final quarter and the home team ran in two tries in his absence.
"It was obviously touch and go but when you're being officiated by a quality referee like Romain Poite and he takes his time and goes to the TMO, you've got to trust that the guy has got it right," Best told Sky Sports 1.
"The frustrating thing is that we had a penalty advantage there. Hendy was absolutely fabulous and that small error.... you could tell that he was disappointed, but we've got to be bigger than a yellow card costing us that many points.
"It's very frustrating. They're Super Rugby champions and are a very good side. We'll look back at the mistakes we made that let them back into it and be frustrated.
"This is potentially the last game of the tour for a few of us, so we have to look at the positives as well.
"I cannot fault the effort. Maybe we needed to show more composure and be more clinical at times."
- PA
