Karl Dickson graded after controversial Springboks vs All Blacks performance

The English referee had a difficult evening at M&T Bank Stadium, with his performance coming under scrutiny from New Zealand coaches, media and supporters.

South Africa ultimately ran in six tries to New Zealand's four, with Damian de Allende, Morné van den Berg, Malcolm Marx, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cameron Hanekom crossing in the victory.

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One of the biggest talking points surrounded Cam Roigard during the second half.

The All Blacks scrum-half kicked ahead before being challenged without the ball, with New Zealand hoping the incident could result in a significant sanction against South Africa.

However, the officials instead went back to an earlier breakdown and penalised Roigard for offside.

That decision generated plenty of debate, with New Zealand outlet 1News arguing that several refereeing decisions could have gone the other way during the contest. It also highlighted a Manie Libbok tackle on Jordie Barrett which resulted only in a penalty and an earlier breakdown decision which allowed South Africa to kick into the corner.

New Zealand assistant coach Neil Barnes was particularly unhappy with Dickson's handling of the scrum.

Barnes questioned two early penalties against All Blacks captain Codie Taylor for failing to maintain his brake foot, arguing that South Africa had been presenting a similar picture.

“We get two penalties against us at the start of the game for a brake foot,” Barnes said.

He argued that when the footage was reviewed, both teams had done “exactly the same thing at the same time”.

Barnes also suggested the Springboks were currently receiving “the rub of the green” on tight decisions.

His full post-match comments were reported by SA Rugby Magazine, although Barnes conceded that South Africa had been the better team on the night.

Dickson also had to contend with circumstances completely outside his control.

The match was halted for an extended period during the first half after problems with the officials' communication system.

It was a bizarre interruption to what had been a fast-paced contest and left Dickson and his officiating team waiting for the technology to be restored.

The officials alongside Dickson were Matthew Carley and Christophe Ridley, with Andrew Jackson serving as TMO.

Dickson's performance sparked a significant reaction on social media after the final whistle.

Former England fly-half Andy Goode took aim at the referee with a tongue-in-cheek post:

Another viewer was furious with the Roigard decision, writing:

South African supporters were not universally impressed either, with one fan labelling Dickson a “KAK ref”.

However, another supporter raised an interesting counterpoint amid suggestions that Dickson had favoured the Springboks:

Dickson had certainly attracted criticism from both sides before the series finale. Ahead of the game, RUCK looked at his previous controversies involving both New Zealand and South Africa, including criticism from All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan earlier in the tour.

This was never going to be an easy Test to referee.

Dickson deserves credit for remaining composed during the extraordinary communications failure, while many of his individual decisions were technically defensible.

However, consistency is crucial at Test level.

The early scrum penalties became a significant source of frustration for New Zealand, while the Roigard incident was inevitably going to attract scrutiny given what happened immediately afterwards.

There were enough contentious moments across the 80 minutes to prevent Dickson receiving a higher grade.

Importantly, none of that should take away from South Africa's victory.

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