Samoa boss bemoans controversial Chris Kendall call in England defeat

Samoa boss Ben Gardiner was left to rue what he felt was a harsh sin-binning as his side lost 34-16 against England at Headingley. The result ensured Samoa lost the Test series 2-0, but it could have been very different had the tourists not been reduced to 12-men at a crucial point of the game in West Yorkshire.

The Samoans actually took the lead at Headingley, through a Shawn Blore and looked capable of posing real issues after a fast start. However, Junior Pauga’s sin-binning for a high tackle on John Bateman when they were trailing 8-6 proved detrimental.

England took advantage to build a healthy lead going into the break and effectively that killed off the contest and the series. The sin-binning came following a break in play as Bateman received treatment and Gardiner believes it was the turning point in the game.

“I think in any game, whether its in Super League, NRL or international, I think a sin binning will have an impact on the game,” the Samoa boss said. “The average across the NRL it’s generally two tries against, so it’s pretty crucial.

“I thought that he was falling, at first I thought it was for a crusher tackle and I thought maybe I couldn’t see it properly. I asked Junior why he was sin binned and he was told it was for a high tackle. He made impact with the player with his hip, not with his arm, the contact was hip to head. I understand we’re trying to take care across the game and we need to remove head contact but accidental contact that has no malice in it, I haven’t seen that sin-binned in the past.

“Every single thing in the game needs to be added up on its own merits. I think a freak incident like that, I don’t know how many times players make contact with a hip on purpose. I think Junior should have been given the benefit of the doubt.

“You could understand if the player had to go off, but the player played on, no problem at all.

“It impacts how you play. When you have a player sin binned you have to make positional adjustments to make sure you can defend.

“I don’t want everything to be about the sin-binning. At the end of the day England were excellent again today, Herbie Farnworth had another great game. They really dominated the game, I don’t want to take anything away from them, they were brilliant and deserved to win. It’s just a freak incident that puts a bit of a downer on the game.”