Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video “I invited him to come to the presser but he didn’t want to,” said Cheika of Gauzere. Coaches are allowed to make a formal invitation through a referees liaison officer for them to come to a press conference. That is what Cheika did but on this occasion, as expected, they politely declined. “You guys have seen what happened out there, you saw the decisions, the only people who can answer the questions are the referees, not me,” Cheika said. “I’ll say something and you’ll say it’s a biased view. Cheika said the Wallabies were unable to get their attack going because of persistent penalties that went against them. Credit:AAP

“I don’t want to be the guy who looks like: ‘oh, he’s a moaner’. That’s how it always ends up. They can answer it themselves, to be honest. “Across the series we’ve been talking about really trying to build a good rapport and have clarity around decisions and have a no excuses mentality, which I really want to maintain.” Cheika explained how he and match officials had been sending each other video clips throughout the series to get clarity on a number of issues, in particular, players being tackled off the ball. At the end of three closely fought Tests, which saw Ireland win its first series on Australian soil in history, Cheika said there was no point seeking further clarity. Asked about the Latu penalty specifically, Cheika said: “I think you guys saw what happened. Tolu is first there with no ruck formed and he gets awarded a penalty against him. Like I said, that’s the fact.

"The only people who can answer the questions are the referees or the referees' boss, if we’re fair dinkum. I’ll keep it to myself.” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said: "There’s always a few bounces of the ball that don’t go your way and some that do go your way. I felt there were probably a couple of things that didn’t go our way as well. I guess it’s all about perspective." As for the one-try-apiece result itself, Cheika was finding it hard to see many positives. “We’ve shown a lot of commitment but I can’t find those positives in the defeat thing," Cheika said. "We wanted to win the trophy, didn’t get to win it.” David Pocock waiting to speak with match referee Pascal Gauzre. Credit:AAP

David Pocock, who took over the Wallabies captaincy after regular skipper Michael Hooper went off with a hamstring injury in the first half, said the defeat was a tough pill to swallow. “Incredibly disappointing loss,” Pocock said. “Thought the finishers came on and really lifted. Huge amount of effort and to fall short like that is very disappointing. Credit to Ireland over this series, they’ve been tough. It finishes a really good year for them. “[It has been] a real arm wrestle. Being out there in the last 20 [minutes] we were backing ourselves to finish strong, finish well and didn’t quite get there." Loading Cheika said the Wallabies were unable to get their attack going because of persistent penalties that went against them. Overall, Australia conceded 13 penalties to Ireland’s 12.