The All Blacks are ruing an officiating error in the wash-up of their 31-27 loss to the Springboks at Ellis Park on Sunday morning.
Bongi Mbonambi powered over in the 16th minute after peeling off the back of a lineout drive; however, replays clearly showed the Springbok hooker had knocked the ball on in a tackle by Jordie Barrett.
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Despite the partisan, 62,000-strong crowd groaning in frustration when the big screen showed the ball coming loose, TMO Brian MacNeice did not check and the try stood.
Captain Scott Barrett appeared to remonstrate with referee Andrew Brace after the replay was shown on the Ellis Park big screen, but it was to no avail.
To make matters even murkier, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu's subsequent conversion attempt was ruled out as he had taken too long - although there was no shot clock visible to the crowd.
All Black coach Scott Robertson could only offer a joke when asked for his thoughts on what had transpired.
"Maybe? Pardon? Oh OK, I'm just checking if it was a try or not," he said, which drew a few laughs from the assembled media.
"I saw what you saw. I can't say any more. It's a dangerous area if you start talking about referees."
That's a standard response from coaches after a crucial call goes against their side, but it was obvious from Robertson's tone he clearly wasn't happy.
Bongi Mbonambi of South Africa scores a try. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix
But really, did it ultimately cost the All Blacks?
There was still a great deal of the match to play. When Codie Taylor's opening try came after a sustained period of All Black pressure, the momentum swung back to the home side, and they seemed destined to score at some point.
The real issue is the game was lost at the end, not the start. A disjointed last 15 minutes saw the Springboks go from 27-17 down to 31-27 ahead with two very similarly built tries, which should be far more of a worry than one refereeing blunder.
Besides, the luck with the refs wasn't just with the All Blacks.
The All Blacks committed six first-half penalties in their own 22 and weren't shown a card, and a dubious call when a Springbok kick-off was adjudged to have gone out on the full went in their favour, too.
Prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi was the unlucky player penalised when Brace finally had enough of the All Blacks' infringing, and his yellow card sparked the Springbok comeback.
The two sides now move to Cape Town for the second test next weekend.