Hansen blasts ill-discipline after defeat

PERTH: All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen blasted his team’s poor discipline on Saturday after they crashed to defeat against Australia, but refused to be drawn on whether he thought Scott Barrett’s red card was justified.

New Zealand gave away three needless penalties in the first half and drifted into too many offside positions before lock Barrett’s sending off put the final nail in their coffin in the 47-26 loss.

Hansen said there were issues that needed to be looked at ahead of the return leg of the Bledisloe Cup in Auckland next week.

“The red card didn’t help us, but we didn’t help ourselves either. Our discipline was poor early in the first half ... There were numerous occasions we got offside when we didn’t need to,” he said. Some commentators suggested French referee Jerome Garces’ decision to send off Barrett for a clumsy shoulder charge that caught Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper on the head was harsh. But Hansen said he needed to review the incident before making any judgements.