‘Refs ruined it for Kings’
Furious Isuzu Southern Kings coach Robbi Kempson labelled the two South African assistant referees on duty as appalling after his team were beaten 3120 by Munster on Saturday.
After losing their opening Guinness PRO14 match against the Cardiff Blues, the Kings had been desperate to get on the winning track at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Kempson aimed his broadside at the officials after the Irish visitors outscored the Kings by four tries to two.
He is now planning to lodge a complaint with SA Rugby high performance manager Mark Lawrence.
The match was refereed by Dan Jones of Wales and the
assistant referees were Mike Adamson (Scotland), Paul Mente (South Africa) and Christie du Preez (TMO, South Africa).
“I think the South African match officials that were in this game were appalling,” Kempson fumed.
“Regarding the TMO, a Munster try was a metre short. You can all go and see it on the replays.
“It was comfortably a metre short, yet they gave the try.
“Also when people are on the hands and knees trying to defend a maul in front of an
assistant referee, one would assume that he is going to communicate with the referee that they are illegal.
“That never happened. “I will take that up with Mark Lawrence.
“I think it is completely unacceptable at this level to have people that are inappropriate for the competition.
“It is a blight on the competition to have such officials.
“To make it very clear, I thought the referee Dan Jones was absolutely fine and we have no, absolutely no, qualms with him whatsoever.
“Certainly we can’t have a try short of the line given as a try and we can’t have an assistant referee not assisting what we are trying to achieve – particularly when we want a penalty to go for the corner and try and score a mauling try.”
Kempson said the decisions had been a game-changer for his team who had been desperate to win.
“They completely influenced the game.
“We lost that battle so we did not come away with any points at that particular time.
“Then there was an error in defence and they scored a very good try which went the length of the field so it became a 14-point turnaround.
“So that changes the whole perspective of the game.”
He also said his team had been guilty of not taking full advantage of the chances that came their way.
“Again there were missed opportunities, and we had two chances in that first half in the Munster 22,” Kempson said.
“I would not say we panicked, but we did not convert and that is a minimum of 10 points and assists in the process of the game.
“Munster had three consecutive penalties against them which in anyone’s language is a yellow card.
“We were not given that advantage.
“They then went the length of the field and it becomes a 14-point turnaround and that changes the whole perspective of the game,” Kempson said.
“But to be honest, if we are not taking those opportunities then we are putting ourselves on the back foot.
“In this competition if you do not take those opportunities you are going to come up short, particularly against a team like Munster.”
Scorers: Southern Kings 20: Tries: Stefan Ungerer, Elrigh Louw. Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (2). Penalties: Demetri Catrakilis (2). Munster 31: Tries: Mike Haley, Alby Mathewson, Fineen Wycherly, Arno Botha. Conversions: JJ Hanrahan (4). Penalty JJ Hanrahan.