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Paddy lets fly - Springboks coach is out of line
By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Thursday, 21 August 2008
Paddy lets fly - Springboks coach is out of line - New Zealand's source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz
IRB refereeing boss Paddy O'Brien has hit back strongly at the criticism of Australian whistleman Matt Goddard from Springboks coach Peter de Villiers and he has also been moved to clarify the ruling on pre-match meetings between coaches and referees as the Tri-Nations heats up.
De Villiers let his frustrations out after seeing his side blanked by the All Blacks 19-nil last weekend in Cape Town.
He felt the Boks weren't given a fair go by Goddard and that the breakdowns were still a particularly murky area, hinting his side might have to resort to illegal tactics to survive in the Tri-Nations title race.
"It is very difficult for us to live with what has been dished out to us," De Villiers said after the match.
O'Brien said there were official channels for coaches to express their opinions and he was upset at De Villiers' use of them media for a public moan.
O'Brien, the former New Zealand ref now resident in Dublin, plans to take the matter up personally with the Boks coach.
"All the countries have been invited, after each match, to put a report forward on every referee where they have got concerns," O'Brien said in The Independent.
"Countries like England, Wales, Argentina and many others have all spent time after games submitting very mature reports. That is very valuable to us.
"However, I have yet to hear from the South Africans all season. There is a medium to go through and that is me, but I have no sympathy for a coach that wants to go through the media rather than me.
"I will be meeting Peter (de Villiers) later in the month and if he has any grievances he will have a chance to bring them to me.
"They (the referees) should not be open to public enquiry just because coaches have their own agenda."
De Villiers, in his first season in charge of the Boks, has made repeated use of the media to get his points across.
After losing the first test to the All Blacks in New Zealand he attacked the All Blacks scrummaging, forcing a meeting between officials before the rematch in Dunedin, something that has been given up under IRB rulings in recent times.
After the Cape Town loss de Villiers went back to that subject. Frustrated at the breakdown rulings, he said coaches should be able to meet referees before test matches to sort out a few things.
"It's an IRB rule, but I don't know why we can't discuss these things before the game. Both coaches should be there the day before a game to speak to the referee," De Villiers told media.
"These days, there are so many different interpretations of the laws. All you want is clarity from the ref. You want to know before hand, you want him to tell you, 'This is how I see it'."
When that was reported on RugbyHeaven earlier in the week, it created a lively debate on our message boards. Even O'Brien was moved to email his thoughts to clarify things.
"Just so there is no confusion," wrote O'Brien. "The IRB Rugby Committee agreed that no meetings take place with match officials so that no undue pressure was placed on them prior to matches.
"No other sport meets with the referee before hand and all teams with the exception of South Africa have been very happy with this process.
"Teams can and have contacted me with issues before games and national coaches are invited to report back on refereeing performances after internationals - 80 per cent of the teams do so and this is a very useful resource for the IRB referee Selection committee.
"Complaining about refereeing through the media is not the forum with which referees will be reviewed."
O'Brien also had a word to The Independent about Victor Matfield's repeated questioning of Goddard's rulings in Cape Town.
"Captains don't have the right to question decisions. But Matfield was questioning almost every one and arguing," O'Brien told the newspaper.
"Matt Goddard's lack of experience counted against him; he should have stopped it. It's disturbing to see players disputing every decision. They can't do that. They are delaying the opposition and in a lot of cases it is done deliberately to slow the opposition down. It's got to be stamped out."
O'Brien did concede that the root of Matfield's complaining - players slowing the ball down at the breakdown - needed to be refereed harder.
"I agree we have to be tougher. We would like to see referees be a lot stronger in taking more sanctions against repeat offenders. Otherwise, the players will say to themselves, 'This is great, we can get away with this'," O'Brien told The Independent.
"I will be talking to the referees before the remaining games. At the moment, I think the referees are struggling with moving from free kicks to penalties. A stronger message is needed."