BREAKING NEWS - By Teivovo Rugby Waisake Naholo has been cited by the IRB Citing Commissioner for his spear tackle on Fijis Sevens Captain, Osea Kolinisau, after Kolinisau had already passed the ball, with more than 4 minutes still to play in the 2nd half of the game between the NZ All Blacks 7s and Fiji. Had the referee, or touch judges, ruled on the infringement it would have been a red card against Naholo reducing the All Blacks to 6 players which could have seen a change in the result of the game. Tim Mikkelson also deliberately interfered with Osea Kolinisau after he took a quick tap penalty right in front of the ref in the 2nd half, but no action was taken. This after all national Coaches were briefed by tournament officials before the tournament started and told that referees would focus on this area and not tolerate any such interference. Another NZ forward has been cited for eye-gauging Jona Tuitoga. Again this citing was not by the ref. Finally, the referee pulled Lepani Botia back for a forward pass after he was in the clear for a try, but which TV replays clearly show was not forward. In the end, all this will not change the result of the game but it shows what a shocker the referee had been. We all have a bad day at the office every now and then but this was the same ref who had a relatively poor game against Fiji just last night when we played Australia. One has to ask why was he refereeing two Fiji games in a row?
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 05:14:13 +0000
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