Aussie boss sees red... over red
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:42
Wobblies: Australia were quite simply outplayed in Melbourne. (c) Gallo
Australian Rugby Union Chief Executive John O'Neill has taken a dim view of South African referee Craig Joubert's handling of Saturday's Tri-Nations clash in Melbourne - a game the Wallabies lost 28-49.
Joubert's hard-line refereeing resulted in three yellow cards and left Australia reeling with 14 men in the second half.
The South African whistleman yellow-carded All Black prop Owen Franks in the 21st minute for a shoulder charge on Wallaby No.8 Richard Brown.
Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell was then red-carded in the 43rd minute by Joubert, after being issued with a second yellow card. The Australian was initially sin-binned in the 28th minute of the first half for a dangerous tackle on New Zealand captain Richie McCaw and was shown a red card in the third minute of the second half, when he prevented Conrad Smith taking a quick throw when the All Blacks were hard on attack.
"You're scratching your head a bit to think that for 38 minutes we're down to 14 men because Drew, probably stupidly, threw the ball away at a line-out," O'Neill told state radio on Sunday.
"Unfortunately the referee had given a general warning... but for a Test match, it seemed a bit sort of out of kilter that you've lost one man because a player throws a ball away.
"It's not as though he punched someone or it's a dangerous tackle. But you've got to live with it."
Mitchell, who was cited after the game, avoided further punishment after a hearing on Sunday.
"SANZAR (South Africa New Zealand and Australia Rugby) Judicial Officer Peter Ingwersen... found the sending off was sufficient penalty and decided no further sanction was required," SANZAR said in a statement on Sunday.
Unsurprisingly, victorious All Blacks coach Graham Henry felt Joubert was spot on in his handling of Saturday's high-scoring affair.
"I think it's good they're strict," Henry told reporters on Sunday.
"Okay, there might be some debate about some of the decisions, there's always going to be some debate about the decisions.
"What you don't want is referees being soft and therefore you get a game that doesn't flow and there's a lot of illegal stuff happening at the tackle," he added.
"If he's grey at the tackle area or he's grey on people throwing the ball away when the other side wants it, you've got a shambles on your hands.
"So I think it's good that he's strict and he sticks to what he says he's going to do."
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