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England fury at ref Rolland
1 Dec 2008
English rugby chiefs are upset by Irish referee Alain Rolland's handling of the New Zealand game, during which he sent four England players to the sin bin.
With match officials taking charge of Six Nations encounters to be announced on 12 December, there are suggestions within the Rugby Football Union hierarchy that Rolland, 42, should be kept away from England games.
Rob Andrew, the RFU's elite rugby director, was reported to have been particularly angered by what he saw as harsh treatment handed out to England while the All Blacks were allowed more room for unpunished errors during the Test.
If they do take issue with Rolland, however, England could be accused of trying to deflect attention away from three defeats in a row to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
It is more likely the matter will be raised by Ed Morrison, head of the RFU's referees, on an informal basis.
Reader views (3)
Totally agree with the RFU taking action against this ref. The referee should be consistent and impartial and this referee was neither impartial or consistent.
So if you decide that you are against foul play then treat both sets of players in the same way. New Zealand would still have won by a large margin, however and the referee would have been irrelevant.
- Jide, London, 02/12/2008 16:40
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Don't be so silly and unsporting, Steve. England have been sadly second-rate all through the Autumn series and fully deserved the wake-up calls handed to them by Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
A total of 4 yellow cards and a citing for foul play sum up England's sad performance v New Zealand. Surely this wasn't what was meant by "playing the Jonno way" ? Wales, by contrast, had no yellow cards all game,and a player - jamie Roberts - who helped them score a try with a fractured skull.
Now that is what passionate rugby is all about
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 01/12/2008 17:26
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I was at Twickenham on Saturday listening to Alain Rolland on "Reflink." It was chrystal clear that he had taken against England; he consistently said to the English players and bizarrely the All Blacks that he intended to send off more England players. He failed to spot All Black infringements occurring in front of him and reached for the yellow card with relish when given half an opportunity by England. Borthwick was given short shrift whenever he approached the referee. Many of Alain Rolland's decisions were justified but it is clear that he intended to judge England as harshly as could throughout. The issue for me is that by behaving like this, he was saying that the match was about Alain Rolland, rather than the two teams on the park. The RFU should study the transcripts on Reflink against the film of the match. If they find as they are sure to that Rolland was unduly severe to one side, he should be prevented from refereeing any international matches for a good period of time. Referees as well as players should be admonished for foul play!
- Steve Harris, London, UK, 01/12/2008 17:14
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