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By Iain Payten
July 28, 2009 Wallabies coach Robbie Deans will break a long-standing habit and seek a meeting with referee Bryce Lawrence before next week's Test against the Springboks in Cape Town.
The rare move by Deans is hoped to shed light on what views, if any, the game's top officials hold towards the Wallabies following their frustrating loss to the All Blacks in Auckland 11 days ago.
Australia were pinged 13 times by whistleblower Craig Joubert - including several mystifying scrummaging penalties - and are fast realising a growing discipline problem has the potential to scuttle their Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup campaigns.
Having only given away an average of 7.5 penalties per game in 2008, the Wallabies have blown out to 10.2 penalties this year.
After just two games of the Tri-Nations, it is already clear in the post-ELV world that goalkickers are once again the difference between victory and defeat and gift-wrapping goals can prove fatal.
"You just cannot hope to prosper at this level and be ill-disciplined," Deans said. "That is something we have been putting an emphasis on."
South African referee Joubert was accused of penalising Wallabies prop Al Baxter for his past sins by repeatedly blaming Australia for collapsed scrums at Eden Park.
Deans wouldn't comment on that theory but in a sign the Wallabies felt blindsided by Joubert's rulings at Eden Park, the coach who normally "doesn't see the point" of meeting refs pre-match is set to change his mind.
"I probably will (meet Lawrence)," he said.
"It is bloody hard to bring accountability. You need to go direct."
It is not known if the Kiwis met with Joubert before the first Bledisloe Cup game, but referees are obligated by the IRB to inform both coaches of any relevant information for the match.
"There is an expectation if they have any issues with us, that if they have any pre-conceived ideas, they should be communicated," Deans said.
Despite this Deans said Baxter and the Wallabies front row needed to be more adaptable and not rely on "a third party always getting it right".
"When you are up against an opponent who is trying to manipulate you, and possibly manipulate the referee, you have to be smart enough to react," Deans said.
Perhaps a more crucial area of ill-discipline at Eden Park was the number of self-inflicted Wallabies penalties.
Of 13 infringements, seven were conceded while in attack, with two penalties right after halftime saw New Zealand snatch and hold on to a match-winning lead.
"I know immediately post-match I was asked about it and I said, 'I don't know if it was discipline' but I had missed a couple of events before I got up to the coach's box. We just gifted them points in the second half," Deans said.
"There are some (penalties) that are self-inflicted, there are some that are maybe referee error, and there are some that are murky. Those that are self-inflicted we have to master, and have to eradicate."
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-32464,00.html
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