Cheika blasts ref Poite for ‘ignoring’ captain Moore

Michael Cheika has taken aim at referee Romain Poite in the wake of another Wallabies defeat, accusing him of ignoring Wallabies captain Stephen Moore.

‘‘Well, I was bitterly disappointed, to be honest,’’ Cheika said of Poite last night.

‘‘I’m on record with the referees boss, Alain Rolland, about the treatment to our captain and to our players by Romain Poite and also by Nigel Owens over this past year. I’m not quite sure why, I’m not quite sure why, but there was a time there in the game, in a break in play, where the national captain of Australia was asking the referee, ‘when might be a good opportunity for me to talk to you?’.

‘‘He just ignored him. He’s got the whistle, I understand, but there’s a place where that guy, the captain has an opportunity to speak with the referee. The referee might not like the captain personally, that might be his prerogative, but he has to afford him that opportunity if he’s affording it to his opponents.

‘‘I think that attitude showed right through. I don’t know if it’s subconscious or not, but it’s there. It’s got to be dealt with, because it can’t be that the opponent can have every player discussing with the referee.

‘‘It’s pretty blatant to anyone listening to the referees.’’

Maybe it’s masterful deflection from Cheika.

He didn’t have much to say about the performance of his forwards, but did say his side lacked quality ball.

That was due to a dreadful set piece, particularly a lineout that looked a shambles throughout.

Moore still has confidence in his lineout, however.

Asked if he had lost confidence when throwing into the lineout, he was short and sweet with his answer. ‘‘No.’’ Asked what needed to be fixed in the lineout, Moore was either keeping the answers secret, or didn’t know himself.

‘‘I think we just need to use our options which are going to give us ball in space,’’ he said.

‘‘There are some things we need to do to help us improve there. A lot of things go into it, timing is obviously important, but I think there’s other things as well.’’

They’d better have a great review, because the Wallabies are almost starting from scratch with their set piece. They have two weeks before the Springboks arrive in Brisbane.