In scenes from the weekend, Majo Itoje was spotted calling for a penalty with the utmost vigour in England’s narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday.
Claiming a high shot by Patrick Tuipulotu on Ben Earl, Itoje appeared to throw his arm across his neck before flying in for the clearout. Itoje didn’t quite get the reaction he expected, in a video shared by Riaan Louw, fans online have compared the signal to that of someone breaking through a spiderweb.
Itoje runs through a spiderweb. #ENGvNZL pic.twitter.com/0Hg9PcZ61c
— Riaan Louw (@Ringo26) November 2, 2024
On X, people have joked about the signal being a reaction to the impressive HAKA before the match.
Llang81 said: “doing a bit of the Haka? you know the throat cutting motion they sometimes do.”
Liam added: “That’s PTSD from the haka.”
Others have slated the big England lock and his teammates for their penalty claims throughout the match.
Carter Nixon said on X: “They were practically begging for cards the entire game. Loser mentality.”
Barrington Orr: “Squealing like a baby “ref, ref”, it’s just pathetic.”
Match report:
New Zealand defeated England in a thrilling test match at the newly named Allianz Stadium on Saturday in front of eighty-one thousand people.
It was a test match filled with excitement and controversy from the first minute until the 80th.
The much anticipated Haka was met with the most intense rendition of ‘Swing Low’ the stadium has heard in many years. The noise of the crowd grew to ecstatic levels as both sides encroached on each other in the first challenge of the evening.
Marcus Smith was the first to strike through the boot, setting the precedent for what would be a score-building exercise as the match wore on.
The first try came through New Zealand’s Mark Telea, finding himself on the wing with just Ellis Genge ahead of him. A neat bit of footwork and the star wide man left the English prop wanting.
Despite Marcus Smith continuing to control the England scoreline, New Zealand pushed further ahead with yet another well-worked try down Genge’s channel, with Beauden Barrett putting fullback Will Jordan through with a nicely timed switch.
The half concluded with just two points the difference, with the All Blacks looking much the more dangerous of the two sides.
The first score of the second half came following a fascinating footrace between Marcus Smith and Will Jordan. Jordan had the gas to catch up with the departing Smith, but the England fly-half had the presence of mind to look for support, eventually shifting the ball to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to dot down.
The All Blacks would drag themselves back into the game through Damien McKenzie’s boot. As the match drew to a close the All Blacks drew level thanks to another Mark Telea try in the corner, before going ahead with the extras from Damien McKenzie.
A yellow card in the 77th minute put the All Blacks at a serious disadvantage as the game neared the finish. George Ford pinged his penalty kick off the posts, but a subsequent All-Black knock-on would allow England a scrum right in front of the posts.
A serious miscommunication between Harry Randall and his backs meant the opportunity went squandered. George Ford’s last effort drop goal would sail wide.
Final score: England 22-24 New Zealand
Louis Rees-Zammit joins Jim Hamilton for the latest episode of Walk the Talk to discuss his move to the NFL. Watch now on RugbyPass TV
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