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De Villiers also condemns O’Brien
Friday, November 20
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Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has joined the Australian Rugby Union in condemning the actions of International Rugby Board director of elite referees, Paddy O’Brien.
As SARugby.com previously reported, the ARU lodged a former complaint to the IRB about the criticism aimed at Australian referee Stuart Dickinson’s handling of last weekend’s Test between New Zealand and Italy by O'Brien.
The Independent group newspapers now reports that De Villiers has voiced his frustration that O'Brien has "listened and reacted to" complaints from his New Zealand compatriots, but done nothing to assist the Boks.
Asked whether he'd received any feedback from O'Brien about complaints the Boks have raised about Englishman Wayne Barnes's officiating this year, De Villiers said: "No.
"These are the people we're supposed to believe in. We hope they're never biased and that they're there for the good ... and growth of the game," De Villiers told the Independent group newspapers.
"To me, this is a shock.
"When we sent reports to him [O'Brien] last year, he protected the referees to such an extent we couldn't believe it was the same game we had watched.
"I just hope this is the norm now, but if it's not, he's set a precedent for himself and the IRB.
"I can't live with the fact that some referees go into games knowing what they're going to do. It's not on. Players' careers can be ended if referees are not up to standard.
"If we expect players to be world-class, why can't we expect the same of referees?"
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Clearly he's been correct all along, instead of his detractors.
For the first time i agree with Divvy.
The the refs need to get their act together.
Bias against SA is rife... maybe its SA's hisory, maybe its perception of being thugs... but discrimination is only discrimination if the majority of nations disagree with the actions.
Unfortunaely most non saffas dislike us in rugby. I play in the UK, for a largly South African team, and it is frustrating as some refs blatently dislike us, and some oppo teams wont talk to us after games