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A tale of 2 halves and the coach aint a happy camper(some merit in this)
Loffreda cries foul in wake of defeat
Saturday 18th August 2007
Loffreda: A call from Paddy O'Brien beckons
Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda launched an extraordinary assault on the game's law enforcers in the wake of his side's 27-20 defeat to Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, accused referees of general bias against the Pumas.
Loffreda claims referee Chris White should have awarded Argentina a penalty try after Wales were penalised three times while defending their own line in the dying moments of the game.
And he accused the Englishman of "coaching not refereeing" during his communication with the Wales players through the match.
But Loffreda's frustrations extended deeper than just the disappointment of missing out on a draw at the Millennium Stadium.
Loffreda believes the game's traditional powers receive preferential treatment from referees and he fears it will end up costing Argentina at the World Cup.
The Pumas are in the same group as hosts France and Ireland and Loffreda wants to arrange a meeting with the International Rugby Board's referees' chief Paddy O'Brien before the tournament kicks off on September 7.
"I am a bit confused, I don't understand what has happened with the interpretation of the rules of rugby," said Loffreda.
"In some parts of the game, there was a rule for the reds [Wales] and there was another rule for the blues [Argentina].
"I'm not arguing about the result of this game. Wales deserved to win, no problem about that.
"But I am worried about what will happen in the World Cup. If there is one rule for one team and another for the other team in the same game, we will have problems, we will have a lot of trouble.
"Many things were awarded to them [Wales] which were not awarded to us.
"This guy, Chris White, he only saw one team. He only penalised one team.
"If this continues in the same way, we will have to make a formal statement because we are playing with another set of rules.
"I am really aware of what will happen at the World Cup.
"We are going to be level with France and with Ireland but if there is a different interpretation of the rules it will change that.
"I don't want us to be treated so unfairly because we are from South America or because we are from Argentina. I want the same rules for everybody.
"Somebody has to look very carefully at this. I would like to speak with Paddy O'Brien if they allow me because this cannot happen in the World Cup.
"It will only be bad for the reputation of the World Cup."
Loffreda came into the post-match press conference with a list of issues from the game which frustrated him.
Chief among them was the referee's decision not to award a penalty try in the last minute and to then refer Martín Durand's effort to the television match official.
With time up on the match clock, Durand was driven over the Wales line but spilled the ball forward as he attempted to ground it - but TMO Romaine Poite ruled no try.
"When we played against Ireland two months ago the referee awarded a penalty try to Ireland when we collapsed the maul once, only once," said Loffreda.
"Today there were three times, clearly three times [when Wales collapsed]. That's a penalty try.
"And then, you know what he said to the TMO? He said: 'Give me a reason why I cannot award the try'. He saw a try so why is he asking the TMO?
"He [White] said, maybe 45 or 50 times 'red hands away'. He was coaching, not refereeing. He insisted many times to open the gap [in the line-out] to Wales and he never gave us a free-kick."
O'Brien is anxious to snuff out the habit referees have developed of over-communicating with teams. He wants them to punish what they see, not warn teams against infringements.
As for the match, Argentina looked nothing like the top-five team they are for the first 40 minutes as Wales dominated and surged into a 24-7 lead.
But the Pumas regrouped after the interval and moved within a converted try of Wales when winger Ignacio Corleto scored his second touchdown of the afternoon and fly-half Federico Todeschini booted 10 points.
"We had a poor first half and then we got into the game again. We were very close to turning it," said Loffreda, who will take over at Leicester after the World Cup.
"We didn't have a good performance in the first half. Wales put a lot of pressure on us and that was part of the reason why we were so poor.
"The second half we were better - not good, but better."
What the Wallabies would give to have a hooker of the calibre of Mario Ledesma.
Inglés chupa referrees culo