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O'Brien defends Super 14 refs
From Fox staff writers
May 07, 2007
INTERNATIONAL Rugby Board head of referees, Paddy O'Brien, has defended southern hemisphere whistleblowers after former New Zealand captain Tana Umaga attacked Super 14 refereeing standards on Saturday.
Umaga, who played his last Super 14 match in the Hurricanes' 14-38 loss to the New South Wales Waratahs in Wellington on Saturday, said after the game that southern hemisphere referees are struggling.
"I think referees in this part of the world are lacking," he said.
"Unfortunately referees in the northern hemisphere are better, which is sad to see.
"They have a better empathy for the game up there and something needs to be done.
"Apart from Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), everyone is struggling and New Zealand and Australian referees are struggling."
But New Zealander O'Brien said the southern hemisphere's best referees compare well to their northern counterparts.
"The top-level southern hemisphere referees hold their own against the northern referees. Paul Honiss and Steve Walsh are very experienced and in the top bracket of the World Cup referees," O'Brien told the Dominion-Post today.
Umaga, a highly regarded player and captain, said referees should be more accountable and should face the media and explain their decisions.
"It's got to a stage where I want to tell my son to ref because it's the safest job going around and they get paid a lot."
Umaga said he was speaking out as he has only a domestic season to complete, and it is not healthy to have players muzzled during competition for fear of upsetting sponsors and employers.
"I believe I'm at a stage that I can speak out and I can take the (financial fine for speaking out) if it comes," he said.
O'Brien said Umaga's comments need to be taken in context.
"He's just come off a loss in his last game. It's very easy for players and coaches to hide a poor performance behind the referee.
"He has been one of the great players in the Super 14 and is entitled to have that view, but there was probably a bit of emotion involved."