New Zealand coach Graham Henry said he was glad to have “some reality” at the scrum after the world referees’ chief slammed Australian referee Stuart Dickinson’s display in their match against Italy.
Paddy O’Brien, director of elite referees at the International Rugby Board, visited the All Blacks at their London hotel on Tuesday to tell them their complaints over the way in which Dickinson had policed the scrum in their 20-6 win in Milan last weekend were justified.
O’Brien, himself a New Zealander and a former Test referee, then took the even more extraordinary step of publicly saying Dickinson’s repeated penalising of the All Blacks at the scrum was “completely wrong”.
He also told the stuff.co.nz website: “We’ve got to be fair to teams. If the referee is not accurate we’ve got to put our hand up.
“We need to educate that referee and get him better, because that scrummaging on Saturday was not up to international standard.”
Henry, speaking after announcing his team to play England at Twickenham this weekend, told reporters in London on Wednesday: “It’s good to have some reality, some truthfulness. The scrum has been a problem for some time.
“If you get two teams who want to scrum, and scrum immediately, it makes for a good game of football.”
Former Wales and British and Irish Lions coach Henry, added: “I’m sure the guys are pleased it’s happened, I’m sure England are too.
“The guys do a lot of work during the week and they want to do it right (scrum) at the weekend and when it doesn’t happen, it’s a frustration.
“I’m pleased the issue has been brought to the surface and not swept under the carpet.”
Jerry
Guest
O'Brien shouldn't have couched his criticism the way he did, and his method of delivery was wanting. BUT, those who are saying "How come he didn't come out and say anything about Kaplan" or Alan Lewis or Joubert or whatever other incident they can think of are missing the fact that the IRB just last week announced that collapsing and reset scrums would be one of the chief things refs were going to be concentrating on. Given that, and the fact that less than a week later a full 10 minutes of a match was devoted to an extended period of controversial decisions, I think he was right to point out that the conventional wisdom in respect of that incident was actually wrong.
katzilla
Roar Guru
*gasp* Heaven forbid you not win any friends in the north, he'll be /wrists before the day is out.
Pothale
Guest
Said as much when I first saw this report broken in an NZ newspaper. O'Brien needs to keep his Pro- SH views to himself. However, his comment that 'they are crying up here that it was a penalty try' is not the l anguage to use with rugby unions. He'll have won himself no friends in N H with that remark which betrays his personal spite.
Yikes
Guest
Wix, you have it all so very wrong. How are the referees not subject to open critiques? If anyone in the press want to have a crack at a player they can. If anyone in the press want to have a crack at a referee they can. But how often do coaches and players have a full on crack at other players and coaches publicly? Sometimes but not often. Referees are only protected from critiques from current players and coaches. Why? Well, if the referee is fair game, surely he is entitled to right of reply, no? Would you like to see referees publicly having a crack at current players in the press? That's only fair, right? How is rugby well served by everyone fighting their battles out in the newspapers and websites? It isn't. And for this reason the referee is open to criticism from all and sundry, expect current players and coaches (and presumably, the referee's manager!)
Joh4Canberra
Guest
POB now apologises to Dickinson and ARU for his inappropriate public comments: http://www.worldcupweb.com/rugby/news/viewarticle.asp?id=23211 Will the man's apologies never end?
Joh4Canberra
Guest
Referees are not paid that handsomely compared to the players. In actual fact they're paid pretty crap money really. Most of them could make a hell of a lot more money doing something else. The way referees are treated by players, the public and rugby officialdom I'm surprised there are any professional referees at all really. While most top international rugby players make a lot more money playing rugby than they would holding down a real job the reverse is true for most referees.
Cattledog
Guest
Scottmit, you're not wrong but 100% on the money. Whether this is a re-hash or not, PO'B was incorrect in publicly vilifying Dickinson. It seems those against you have little to no understanding of leadership and loyalty and the bigger issue of a loss of respect by all the other referees as a result of this action. Mind you, I'm not surprised such diatribe has emerged from an organisation as the IRB...only surprised someone like Paddy wasn't above such things.
Wix
Guest
Scottmit is wrong. Referees should be subject to open critiques just like the players. There are 31 persons on the field. At the elite end of the code, they are all paid handsomely from money obtained from us "mug" punters. So, excuse me if I say all 31 of them are not exempt from criticism. Over the years criticism of players has generally resulted in improvement of standards. The absence of criticsim of referees has produced the present parlous standards. Scottmit, please think again
Justin
Guest
Which Aussies would they be.... I would have thought the opposite, in fact, I would go out on a limb and say quite a few think he is average and over officious...
scottmit
Guest
I make no comment about Dickinson's performance. O'Brien's conduct is inappropriate
Darwin hammer
Roar Rookie
Yawn - we went through this all yesterday .... in summary the Aussies love Dickinson and think he's a top international referee who has been slandered by a kiwi who is motivated solely by the need to look after his own ... the rest of the world don't rate him ...
scottmit
Guest
This is outrageous behaviour by O'Brien and completely inappropriate. As a NZer he leaves himself open to accusations of bias, whether or not he is. And to slag off one of his most experienced international referees... Beggers believe