New Zealand players have blasted World Cup organisers for their perceived disrespect after it was revealed that they had pre-booked the Kiwis' flights back home before their semi-final against Australia had even been played.
The move was made after organisers were forced to predict tournament outcomes so that they could put a hold on flights.
Though New Zealand is the world's No.1 ranked nation, the decision was made to look significantly worse when it was revealed that Australia's tickets had been pre-booked for after the grand final – before the semi-final had even been played.
When asked about the revelation following his team's semi-final defeat, captain Jesse Bromwich could barely veil his frustration.
“I don't really want to talk about that too much,” he said, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It's pretty disrespectful. I don't want to talk about it to be honest.”
Had the Kiwis won, the tournament would have faced nearly $10,000 in fees to change the pre-arranged flights – a fee they've likely now incurred anyway following Samoa's history-making win against the host nation, who were heavily favoured to win.
Though he accepted his own role in the disappointing defeat, New Zealand dummy-half Brandon Smith agreed with Bromwich.
“We did (find it disrespectful), and pretty rightly so,” Smith said.
“But we tried to use that as motivation. In a way it was a good thing – something like that is pretty good fuel for the fire. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done.”
Smith also spoke on Cam Murray's match-winning try, accepting his role in the pivotal moment.
“My physio came up to me and asked how my head was,” Smith continued.
“I turned around and told him it was a bit sore but all right. Then I turned around a bit late.
“That's no one's fault but mine, I need to be ready. It's a tough pill to swallow – three years to get over it.”
