Frustrated Ospreys fall foul of ref’ Berry
OSPREYS head coach Allen Clarke hit out at the standard of refereeing in the PRO14 and match official Stuart Berry as his team were beaten by Munster.
The Welsh region gave it everything at the Liberty Stadium, but they were outscored three tries to one as the Irish raiders crossed through Darren Sweetnam, Mike Haley and a penalty try.
Clarke felt South African referee Berry gave his team nothing at the breakdown. Home points came via a Hanno Dirksen try and the boot of Luke Price.
“I’m frustrated with two things in particular. We showed quality in attack at times, but our accuracy let us down under pressure,” said Clarke.
“I was equally as disappointed by how the game was officiated. We felt there was only one team the referee communicated with. We felt the Munster players were off their feet.
“We’ve had Stuart as referee three times this season. I did challenge that, but it just felt the same again. Maybe I’m overly emotional at the moment in my reaction, but we had a penalty advantage at the start of the second half and he didn’t go back for it. It was just bizarre.
“I speak with Greg Garner of the PRO14 on big decisions every week. We had issues last week with another South African referee where Iain Henderson should have been yellow carded. That was another one that was ignored. These are big decisions which impact everything we are doing.”
Munster went ahead early when JJ Hanrahan’s long pass gave Sweetnam an easy finish. The conversion was added, but Ospreys hit straight back with a well-worked try.
Dirksen was the scorer – TMO Ian Davies checked the score – following a break and kick ahead by Keelan Giles. Price converted and kicked a penalty before the Ospreys lost a man.
Sam Cross was yellow carded for trying to stop a certain Munster try from an offside position and a penalty score was awarded.
A tight second half saw Price kick another penalty, but Munster sealed the game when their forwards smashed away for more than 20 phases and Haley was the beneficiary.
Clarke confirmed the Ospreys will continue in their current guise in a powerful post-match press conference amid continu- ing financial discussions taking place in Welsh rugby.
His opposite number Johann van Graan had no qualms with Berry as his team stayed top of Confer-
ence A. Ireland international Tadhg Beirne was outstanding for Munster.
Beirne was returning from injury after training with Ireland and hopes his man-of-the-match display at the Liberty Stadium will surely have caught the attention of Joe Schmidt.
“I’m always looking to push for an Ireland place,” Beirne said.
“I was a bit disappointed not to be involved against Italy this weekend. I knew it would have been a big ask to be thrown straight in, but I got the opportunity with Munster. Hopefully I’ve put my hand up and Joe might consider me moving forwards.
“I think Joe was on the flight over to Rome during the game, but hopefully he’ll watch it back!”