Gatland puts the blame on Bray
Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:36
Wales coach Warren Gatland has lashed out at New Zealand referee Lyndon Bray after the disappointment of losing their inbound tour to South Africa 2-0.
Gatland told British media he was disappointed with the Test series defeat and disenchanted with the refereeing, especially in the second Test.
"I was little aggrieved at a few of the refereeing decisions which went against us and they were pretty lucky."
Gatland alluded to 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," Gatland told NZPA.
Gatland also felt that Bray played a part in assisting South Africa score their first try, with the referee obstructing and preventing Stephen Jones from making a tackle on 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."
Gatland did however commend his team's performance in the second Test, and felt that the better team won on the day.
"If we had played another of the sides in the Six Nations we would have won with that performance," he added.
