Coaches blast Euro refs’ calls
An Australian coach working in Wales says he is ‘‘sick’’ of refereeing standards in a major European competition while a South African counterpart has queried the consistency of red card decisions in the English Premiership.
John Mulvihill – head coach at the Cardiff Blues – could face the wrath of PRO14 officials after his blast following Cardiff’s 16-12 loss to Ulster in Belfast last weekend.
The former Western Force assistant coach turned the heat on referee Stuart Berry, a South African, and his fellow officials.
‘‘We were not happy with the way the game was officiated and I am starting to get to a stage where I am sick of it,’’ Mulvihill said on the Wales Online website.
‘‘After the first three games I spoke to the referees’ boss and he has told me that if the game was officiated properly we would have won the first three games.’’
Mulvihill said there were ‘‘big stakes in rugby. People lose jobs and players lose their roles. It has to better than it is’’.
He was livid at some decisions late in the game, including the sin binning of Cardiff’s Welsh test lock Seb Davies.
If you have a referee, two officials and a TMO surely some of those breakdown decisions have to be better.
‘‘We get a yellow card for someone clearing someone out and it was not a shoulder charge, he wrapped his arms.
‘‘Their 12 [Stuart McCloskey] was allowed to come in during a push and shove, grab our nine [Lloyd Williams] and initiate his head which is a head butt and a red card.
‘‘When Tomos Williams made a break the ball was knocked out of his hand, Jason Harries was going for the ball and he was tackled by five metres from their line without the ball by McCloskey. No penalty TMO, just a scrum.’’
Meanwhile, Johan Ackermann – a former Springbok who is now Gloucester’s head coach – is concerned at the lack of consistency around red card decisions in England.
Worcester fullback Chris Pennell was sin-binned for taking a Gloucester player out in the air last season.
Ackermann told the Daily Telegraph he thought the yellow card ruling was fair, but red cards had been issued to his teams in the past for similar offences.
‘‘I don’t like red cards because it takes the contest out of the game but in the past there have been similar incidents which would have resulted in a red card,’’ he said.
‘‘I think a yellow card was probably the right call but it’s up to the officials to make the call. The reality of the game is that the safety of players comes first but we don’t always understand the decisions because they are made in a split second.
‘‘For me a red card must be a blatant thing such as a punch or a kick where there is no excuse and if it’s an accident like tonight then they should just leave it to the citing commissioners to take it further.’’ try, no