Van der Westuizen faces storm of criticism

Even victorious Lions coach Johan Ackermann had sympathy for fuming Sharks mentor Robert du Preez after the visitors had narrowly been edged out in the Super Rugby quarterfinal at Ellis Park at the weekend.

While not everyone will agree the Sharks should have been awarded a penalty at the final ruck, most people will concur that referee Marius van der Westhuizen (right) had an awful game that infuriated both coaches.

In the end it was the Sharks who ended the losers, going down 23-21 and coach Du Preez left little doubt afterwards how he felt about the refereeing.

Asked what he thought about the crucial decision at the end of the game, Du Preez barked “Which one? I’m not allowed to comment on bad officiating.”

When told of Du Preez’s foul mood, Ackermann said: “If I had lost, I also would not have been happy with the refereeing. And we were almost there. I’m very grateful we got over the line.”

The Sharks disposed of all frills to their game for what they called a “final” all week and Du Preez was delighted with the physicality and intensity of his pack as well as the team’s defence, which saw them leading 14-3 at half-time, before the Lions became more direct and held on to the ball better in the second half, to stage a fine comeback.

“The guys were really great today, every single one of them. I was very pleased with the way they went about their business, but unfortunately we just didn’t get the result. We lost a bit of momentum in the first 10 minutes of the second half and the Lions did really well to score two tries in that time,” Du Preez said.