Carnage reigned at Marvel Stadium as the Wallabies were reduced to 13 men just shy of halftime in the opening Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks.
The chaos kicked off after Caleb Clarke burst through the Australian defence in the 36th minute, cutting left and right before being brought down short of the try line.
In the melee, Tom Wright copped a yellow card for a professional foul.
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Moments later, and another look at the sequence saw Darcy Swain face the same fate for an act that left Quinn Tupaea reeling in pain.
The All Blacks reserve lay on the ground after Swain tackled the visitor’s left leg in the ruck, leaving Tupaea to limp from the field.
Swain had only been on the field for two minutes before the incident.
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“That’s your responsibility to not put yourself in a reckless position,” said referee Mathieu Raynal.
“You cannot target the legs. It’s dangerous, so it’s a yellow card.”
Stan Sport commentator Tom Horan added, “I’m okay with that. I thought the clean-out was fine but it’s this here when you’re attacking the leg of Quinn Tupaea.
Wallabies level score as All Blacks see yellow
“Safety is paramount for professional rugby players as well as junior rugby players. That’s tough now for the Wallabies.”
The incident reduced the Wallabies to 13 men while the All Blacks were down 14 after an earlier indiscretion by Dalton Papali’i.
The Wallabies were lucky not to concede another try after their side was reduced.
Samisoni Taukei’aho crossed the chalk off the back of a line-up, although he was found to have knocked the ball on after Jake Gordon put in a stellar try saver.
As the siren sounded, the two sides went into the halftime break with 10 points apiece.
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