O’Connor sends Reds’ video nasty to the EPRC

LEICESTER boss Matt O’Connor has stoked the fire ahead of Sunday’s grudge rematch with Munster at Welford Road, revealing he sent a dozen video clips from the Thomond Park clash to tournament organisers EPRC to back up his complaints about the refereeing. After seeing his team hammered 33-10 in Limerick last Saturday, O’Connor accused Munster of getting away with cynicism at the breakdown. And he has called on referee Mathieu Raynal to implement the laws of the game as they are written. ‘The laws of the game are the laws of the game,’ O’Connor insisted last night. ‘There should be no room for interpretation from any official. Or any need for teams to adapt to the way a game is being refereed in the technical parts of the game. ‘Not rolling away is not rolling away,’ O’Connor continued, as he stressed the need for consistency from referees. ‘Not releasing the tackled ball carrier is not releasing the tackled ball carrier. Putting your hands in front of the ball at the breakdown is putting your hands in front of the ball at the breakdown. They are laws. They can’t be adapted every week by different officials. ‘Don’t get me wrong, there were aspects of the game where we were second best… but it was hard when the pictures that were being presented from our perspective looked to be against the laws of the game,’ continued the coach in his weekly local Leicester newspaper column. ‘Afterwards, I sent a dozen or so video clips to the head of referees asking for clarification on some of the things that we found frustrating.’