Paddy lets fly - Springboks coach is out of line

[Flamethrower]

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."

[jargan83]

for a bloke who a few weeks ago said "we have no excuses for losing" he sure does bitch and moan alot
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[pieter blackie]

He is a disgrace And I am sorry to say but he is going to be the downfall of South African Rugby It is hard for me to support a circus like that I hope something happens to rectify the situation but I think I will have to buy a Australian jersey in the end.

[jargan83]

what did you think of Matfields questioning of EVERY decision PB?

I don't like the fact that the puppet can't seem to fathom that his team may have been beaten by a better side. He probably has a big excuse book by his side every test
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[pieter blackie]

I think it was done out of frustration. He doesn't have the captaincy experience like John Smit and with no definite game plan and no General guiding the way from the sideline he did what he did. He was the cause of many of the refereeing desisions against the Bokke. The referee just had enought of his harasment and. You will never change a refereeing desision you can only play within they boundries that he allows you to and that is that.

It is just going to get worse and worse in the Springbok camp. I see hard times ahead for SA rugby and unless something drastic happens .

[jargan83]

such as getting rid of the Coach and actually hiring on merits instead of racist policies implemented by the government of South Africa?

If SARU sacked him would that be likely to piss said government off?
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[GIGS20]

I think the Allblacks played Goddard very well too. They were getting away with a lot at the breakdown, the Boks just didn't do what the ref was allowing.....most un-springbok-like

[tdevil]

He is a disgrace And I am sorry to say but he is going to be the downfall of South African Rugby It is hard for me to support a circus like that I hope something happens to rectify the situation but I think I will have to buy a Australian jersey in the end.

It's not going to get better, so you might as well go out and get your Wallaby jumper.....It's the right thing to do.

[Flamethrower]

He probably has a big excuse book by his side every test
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This one????

[jargan83]

he would probably be half way an excuse book of that size
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[Thequeerone]

Sad really - De Villiers must be under enormous pressure - positive discrimination rarely works - by all accounts he is quite a nice person.

[gotheforce]

i think its disgraceful how De Villiers has a whinge after every game he loses.
Yeah, Matt Goddard didn't do the best of jobs, but it still was a fair game. A couple of dodgy calls won't affect the game to such a point where your team is left scoreless.
It shows the inexperience of De Villiers, where he's in panic after a loss and using this to take the heat off himself, because im sure some south africans are calling for his head right now.
Compared to the coolness of Robbie Deans or Graham Henry, you can tell the huge difference between the coaches.
He really has to blame some of his choices on the field that day and how he's coaching the boks to play their rugby. Cos you can see the boks are trying to play a different style of rugby, but are really failing to do it cos it just isnt what their used to.
I agree with PB, that its just going to get worse. I can't see them getting better under De Villiers.

[GIGS20]

He really has to blame some of his choices on the field that day and how he's coaching the boks to play their rugby. Cos you can see the boks are trying to play a different style of rugby, but are really failing to do it cos it just isnt what their used to.
I agree with PB, that its just going to get worse. I can't see them getting better under De Villiers.

Do you think it's not what they're used to or do you think there's similar division in the team as there is in the political structure.

I mean if they're not used to the style, that'll eventually work itself out, they'll suck at it for a few games (seasons?) and then things'll start to click, but if they don't respect the coach (or even some of them don't) that'll never be fixed until you arse the guys who are on the wrong page and replace them with blokes who are into the whole program.....that will also carry with it a significant period of suckiness, but there'll be light at the ned of the tunnel.

Or they could sack the coach which would probably make SA rugby politics explode! I think now that he's there the team need to shut up and get on with the job, they're on a hiding to nothing if they fight against him.

[laura]

I reckon its not so much a problem with them changing their playing style, but the Coach has a different style of coaching...delegating! I think de Villiers depends on his assistant coaches too much and they each coach their area andthe team is training seperately and as a result there is a lack of cohesion in the team.
If they aren't training together they aren't going to know what to expect from their own team let alone the oposition.
Getting rid of de Villiers isn't an option though because of all the politics, I think its a crap way to run a Rugby team but sadly thats just the way it is in this day and age and there's not a whole lot that can be done until the Government is sorted first.

[shasta]

i think its disgraceful how De Villiers has a whinge after every game he loses.

While it's not ideal for any coach to whinge about the refereeing he's far from the first. They have lost in NZ and Perth in the last two tri nations. But they also won in Dunedin. SA are the current S14 and RWC champions. So, one the strenght of one home loss, let's just hold off on the Chicken Little stuff for a while.