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http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rug...-1226623875802
AMID a fiery lead-up to their coaching clash tomorrow night, it has emerged that Jake White and Ewen McKenzie were both interviewed for Ireland's top job last night.
Brumbies coach White and Queensland coach McKenzie spoke to IRFU officials via video conference, and are in the running to be head coach along with Kiwi Joe Schmidt and Australian Les Kiss.
The interviews were held just 48 hours before White and McKenzie do battle in a top-of-the-table Super Rugby clash at Suncorp Stadium that has been preceded by a bitter dispute between the pair.
White yesterday accused Queensland of being the dirtiest team in Super Rugby.
The incendiary comment came as the Brumbies also confirmed flanker George Smith had been granted an extension to stay in Canberra by Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath for the rest of the season, and therefore will be eligible for the Wallabies v Lions series.
The Brumbies and Reds rivalry has rapidly grown to be one of the fiercest in Australian sport, based on a genuine mutual dislike.
Hackles were raised in Canberra yesterday following a column published by McKenzie yesterday, in which he called for referees to ensure breakdowns weren't slowed down and nominated the Brumbies and the Chiefs as the worst offenders.
Brumbies forwards coach Laurie Fisher tweeted: "I wonder if he has emailed a copy to the referee for this weekend." And head coach Jake White claimed McKenzie had cited false information.
After handing out internal stats sheets to Canberra media at a press conference, White said: "Bottom line is he's wrong. The Chiefs are not second, the Reds are second to the Brumbies.
"It is the Brumbies who have conceded the most penalties, then the Reds.
"The thing that is most concerning is the Reds have double the amount of penalties for foul play than any other team. You can use stats any way you want."
White's statistics showed the Reds had conceded 14 penalties for foul play.
When asked if the war of words would be a distraction or see niggle on the field, White said: "I don't want too much niggle because I see they have 14 penalties for foul play, so I don't want too much niggle."There's no distraction at all. This is just an answer to the statement in the newspaper. The players aren't concerned about it."
White said he understood McKenzie's motivation in attempting to get more room to move for his playmakers, Will Genia and Quade Cooper. But he hoped referees didn't read too much media and wouldn't be pressured.
"Ewen is stating something that's blatantly obvious," White said. "The reality is Genia and Cooper need time and space to perform, and as I said to the coaches, there's nothing within the laws that says you can't stop the players from having time and space.
"It's part of the game knowing the more time and space you can close down on players, the more inhibited they are."White recalled Fotu Auelua to his back-row in the place of Jordan Smiler, while Tevita Kuridrani takes over at No.13.
The Reds recalled Digby Ioane to their starting side at the expense of Rod Davies.
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