Gatland lashes NZ referee

[Flamethrower]

Gatland lashes NZ referee
Monday, 16 June 2008
Gatland lashes NZ referee - Rugby news & coverage - Stuff.co.nz

Wales rugby coach Warren Gatland has lashed out at New Zealand referee Lyndon Bray after his team lost a test series to South Africa in Pretoria.

The New Zealander told British media he was disappointed with the 2-0 defeat in the test series and with the refereeing.

South Africa won the first test 43-17, and the second yesterday (NZ time) 37-21, after leading 17-15 at halftime.

"I was little aggrieved at a few of the refereeing decisions which went against us and they were pretty lucky."

Gatland cited a knock-on call when Alun Wyn Jones was under the posts as an example.

"The referee says it is a knock-on when you can clearly see a hand in there. That is frustrating because if that had been at the other end of the pitch it would have been a penalty and a yellow card against us."

Bray had also played a key part in the Springboks' first try, Gatland said, with the referee blocking Wales' Stephen Jones from making a tackle on centre Jean De Villiers.

"Steve was pretty upset about that," Gatland said.

"But I have told him to ensure he just smashes the referee out of the way and makes the tackle if he finds himself in the same situation again."

Despite being disappointed, Gatland said the better team had won and praised his team's performance.

"If we had played another of the sides in the Six Nations we would have won with that performance," he said.

[AndyS]

I wonder what would happen if Jones then did just that ("Coach told me to...")??

[jazza93]

Thats a pretty bad excuse

[GIGS20]

Refs don't usually say too much about being pushed out of the way, I've seen it happen a couple of times on telly and play has pretty much continued on. I guess the abiding wisdom is that the ref should never get in the way!

I wouldn't be running out of my way to hit him though

[laura]

Personally, I'm not a fan of Lyndon Bray and he does seem to make a number of dubious calls.

But blaming the ref is a poor excuse, its not like they lost by a few points, they lost by a fair amount. Wales was winning in the first half so they had the ability and no problem with the ref's call at that stage, I dont see how their loss can be blamed solely on the ref's call. You have 15 players on the field, what were they doing?

[jazza93]

Staying out of the way is very hard when you are trying to ref the game, sometimes you just get caught up in it.

when the ref is in the way they usually stand still untill the play has gone and the players know that.

[jargan83]

i saw the game on saturday and Lyndon Bray was an absolute joke. He made more the a few shocking calls, some of which directly to the saffers scoring
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[Burgs]

I have been getting the impression over the last two seasons that S14 and 3N Refs have been getting closer and closer to the action and regularly blocking the Scrumhalf or Openside Flankers.
As Ben Mowen found out, Ref's are soft, they don't like getting hit

[laura]

In saturday's match Steve Moore ran in to the ref after a line out the ref stood pretty much right in front of Moore after he had passed the ball and almost clothes-lined him when he stuck his arm out.

[Ecky]

Oh yes, it's all very easy to referee the game from the lounge room, innit? Or from the sideline - amazing how much better the view is from there.

Come one, come all, have a go at it yourself; see how easy it is when you're out there with 30 others, none of whom are on your side. Rugby WA has a referee manager who wold be delighted to hear from you guys wanting to show us how it should be done properly.

I have said on TWF before that I rate Lyndon Bray pretty highly. I didn't see this match and so cannot comment. But he obviously had a shocker 'cos youse guys said so...

[jargan83]

sorry ekcy, i'm usually one of the last to blame the ref, but he had a shocker.

If i was fit I the ref manager would hear from me, it does interest me
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[Burgs]

You may have misread what I was saying if you are refering to me Ecky, I am saying they seem to be increasingly doing it, ie more than they used to.
I don't see that as being Ref bashing, just an observation of a trend.

In days gone by Refs seemed to stand further away from the breakdown and get a wider view of the match, they now seem to stand quite close to the action and, increasingly, are getting in the way.

One I don't understand is the need for the Ref to manage the Scrum from the Loosehead side, especially when he then berates the Scrumhalf for not getting quick ball in as happened to Burgess.
Burgess couldn't possibly get it in as the Ref was blocking the channel until the scrum was already unstable.
Unless there is a problem then stand on the Tighthead side and there is then no excuse for the Scrumhalf.

I don't envy your job one bit Ecky, (1st XV TJ as a Yr 9 was enough for me!) but as with the players, that doesn't make you immune to observation of a trend.

[slomo]

the ref was crap on saturday.......

[GIGS20]

Come one, come all, have a go at it yourself; see how easy it is when you're out there with 30 others, none of whom are on your side. Rugby WA has a referee manager who wold be delighted to hear from you guys wanting to show us how it should be done properly.

I'm sure as Ezzy goes up the grades I'll become more and more involved in the Refereeing side of the game, once they hit about 12-14 the coaches seem to be pretty much set at Rocky and I'll either be a touch judge (or Assistant Referee) or a ref......the way of the world innit?

[AndyS]

In days gone by Refs seemed to stand further away from the breakdown and get a wider view of the match, they now seem to stand quite close to the action and, increasingly, are getting in the way.

Perhaps coinciding with the increased focus on the breakdown and the decreased use of the toe-rag two-step?