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Umaga bemoans referee leniency after Treeby tackle
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Tana Umaga bemoaned the leniency of referee Jaco van Heerden and TMO Shaun Veldsman after Shaun Treeby escaped a yellow card for a tackle that knocked out Blues' fly-half Piers Francis.
Stormers centre Treeby caught Francis on the chin with a swinging arm in the second half of Friday's Super Rugby clash at Newlands, and the resulting concussion makes him a major doubt for next week's match against the Chiefs.
Van Heerden and Veldsman reviewed the incident and opted to only award a penalty, rather than sending the Treeby to the sin bin.
It was a decision that frustrated Blues coach Umaga and he will seek further clarification on why no further action was taken.
"From what's happened in previous games you probably could say [it deserved a yellow card]," Umaga said.
"We've just got to deal with decisions that are made on the field.
"We knew going into this game the South African referees had been giving away a lot of yellow cards, and cards in general, so we talked a lot about being disciplined and we would expect that consistency throughout the whole game.
"I've got to go through the right channels in terms of reporting back - that's what we'll do to make sure we get some answers to some of the questions we have.
"There were some tough calls that we felt went against us but that's the way it goes."
To add insult to injury the Blues finished the match with 14 men after Matt Duffie was shown two yellow cards as they were beaten 30-22 by the Stormers.
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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