Fisher rues 'ridiculous' penalty try
Mon, 05 May 2008 18:13
Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher has described referee Steve Walsh's decision to award the Stormers a penalty try in their 20-10 win in Cape Town on Saturday as ridiculous.
Walsh ruled that Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano had taken out Stormers outside centre Gcobani Bobo without the ball while as he was about to receive a pass from his skipper Jean de Villiers.
The penalty try, which followed a converted try by de Villiers and two penalty goals to flyhalf Peter Grant, put the Stormers 20-0 ahead and left the Brumbies with 14 players for 10 minutes while Lealifano was in the sin-bin.
"They [the Stormers] were very good early," Fisher told The Australian.
"They were hard on the ball and they slowed us down. We didn't break them down.
"They scored a soft try from a line-out and a ridiculous penalty try, which broke our backs.
"I don't think too many people would have awarded a penalty try. It was a harsh decision.
"When you've got the whistle you can do whatever you like. That's the way it goes," added a disgruntled Fisher.
The loss means that the Brumbies will need a mathematical miracle in order to make the play-offs.
But the Brumbies will approach their last two round-robin games against the Bulls and Western Force as if they can still reach the top four.
"It makes it a fair bit harder," Fisher said of his team's chances of making the semifinals.
We've got two games to go and that's all we can do, look forward to next week.
"It's hard to know how other results will go.
"We have the capacity to finish with 38 points. That's our target. That's what we have to aim for.
"Other results will look after themselves," he added.
The Brumbies' finals chances will go from improbable to impossible if they lose to the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Bulls will be in buyout mood after upsetting the Waratahs 16-13 in Pretoria on Saturday.
"I watched the first half. In those [wet] conditions it was just bash and kick. You couldn't take too much out of it," explained Fisher.
"I think we'll take more out of their win against the Highlanders [two weeks ago]," concluded Fisher.
