Cheika \"embarrassed\" by Kerevi penalty, slams World Rugby for \"spooking\" referees

Sun, Sep 29, 2019, 12:18 PM
Iain Payten
by Iain Payten
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika and captain Michael Hooper spoke after their side went down 29-25 to Wales.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said he was “embarrassed” by the penalty awarded against Samu Kerevi for a forearm fend, and slammed World Rugby for “spooking the referees” with their high contact crackdown.

A frustrated Cheika took aim at “administrators” whose push to protect players from head and neck contact has seen the opening two weeks of the World Cup dominated by citations, suspensions and endless refereeing referrals on the field. 

Cheika, who expressed surprise England’s Piers Francis was cleared after Reece Hodge was banned for three weeks, said he backed the drive to look after players but "not to an extreme where you are looking after players just for doctors and lawyers.”

He also took issue with a penalty awarded against Kerevi in the first half, when the Wallabies centre bumped off an upright Rhys Patchell with an forearm to the chest, but the TMO and referee Romain Poite determined it was illegal because it slid up to the Welshman’s throat.

"It was funny because I thought I had seen that tackle before, it could have been Reece Hodge,” Cheika said, pointing to the fact they argued unsuccessfully Peceli Yato had led with his forearm.

"I am not sure. But when our guy makes that tackle and has the high tackle framework in his head, he gets suspended. But this guy doesn’t think about the high tackle framework and get penalised. 

"So you have seen it. You don’t need me to … as a rugby player, as a former rugby player, I am embarrassed. As a rugby player I am embarrassed about it."


Asked if he was aware of a directive warning players not to lead with the forearm, Cheika said: "Oh look, I don’t know every directive, there have been a few of them come out. 

"I think you may have seen his arm hit the chest, I don’t know if that’s illegal or not, to be honest. I don’t know any more. I don’t know the rules anymore, honestly. I don’t know the rules anymore.”

World Rugby reportedly advised referees in October last year to penalise players leading with the forearm/elbow, and several players in Europe were suspended for elbows to the throat. 

Ironically, one of the videos reportedly sent to whistleblowers showing a an example of a red-card worthy offence was Irish winger Jacob Stockdale directly elbowing Nick Phipps in the throat.

Former players in their dozens jumped on social media to express concern about the direction of the game, with intensive focus on foul play and endless stoppages by match officials to look at them.

When asked by a Brazilian journalist if rugby was "in danger of going soft” like football, Cheika responded: "This is a tough one right (laughs). You have to take care mate, you have to look after players. But not to an extreme where you are looking after players just for doctors and lawyers. You have to look after players for players.”


Cheika continued by saying referees “all seem spooked” and the fans were suffering.

"They’re all worried about stuff, so much. I am not sure why they’re worried. The players aren’t worried. Then it’s affecting everything else on the field as well, all types of crazy stuff,” Cheika said.

"I heard that English guy got off (Piers Francis) at the suspension thing. I don’t want to say anything, you know. But it shows, if you are not confused … maybe the lights going out at the end was a bit of a symbol.

When it was put to Cheika the administrators are attempting to ensure thew welfare of players, Cheika said: "Mate, the administrators are spooking the referees. Referees are worried about making the wrong decisions. 

"And they’re becoming ultra-cautious about everything. It is not inviting to the fans. Why should there be booing over there in a game like that. With those types of crowds?

"There shouldn’t be people booing. And they’re not booing the players either. That shouldn’t be happening."

Cheika said he wasn’t concerned the Wallabies had again let themselves get behind by a decent margin early in the second-half - as they’d done against Fiji - before finally getting their game in order.

The Wallabies were sloppy and attacking laterally until the injection of Matt Toomua in the 46th minute appeared to almost immediately make the Wallabies far more direct.

With good go-forward, the Wallabies fought their way back to 26-25 and appeared to be rolling home for a win, but Wales were given access to Australia’s half to kick a late penalty and take the win.

Cheika said he’d always backed his team to come home strong but was also angry with the fact the Wallabies’ set-piece dominance wasn’t rewarded more in the first-half.

“Some bits and pieces conspired against us in the first half, early on,” Cheika said.

"I am not quite sure why we would be collapsing the scrum when we are pushing the other team forward. And the referee penalises them and then changes the decision to us, against us. The linesman tells him. And those sort of things change momentum, you are the World Cup. It is going to be tight. You have to build a game as well. 

"You are not always going to be in front. You have to build pressure and build positive outcomes and momentum, sometimes when you are behind. Because sometimes the scoring is not always in your control. So I am not worried about it at all. 

"I think when we are starting well, we have to convert some more points, and that could come at some stage in the next game. Get it on with it from there.”

Hooper said the Wallabies ill-discipline in the first half, and Wales’ effectiveness in building pressure with the boot, proved the difference.

"Just on us, we were probably ill-disciplined in the first half and Wales some of their shots on goal, even the drop goal was a change-up that worked quite well for them and was probably the difference in the end,” Hooper said.

FULL WALLABIES PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

 

Q: Second half you couldn’t get the job done. Did you sense you were going to get it done?

Cheika: You never know. You can’t know, can you? You can’t know. We certainly created a lot off momentum that continually got punctuated for one reason or another. But you can’t know it’s going to happen. We obviously believe in the players that they would get it done, it was a mighty effort across the 80 minutes but not to be.

Q: How do you explain the first half to second half turnaround? You took Bernard Foley off very early in the second half.

Cheika: I think we got a bit more go forward in the second half. We created more go forward and got to what we wanted to do. The first half was punctuated by a few ... we made a few breaks and then we maybe lost the ball instead of just keeping it. We gave them opportunities. We had set piece dominance and probably that was rewarded a bit more in the second half than in the first half. There were a lot of little factors, there wasn’t one huge, why didn’t it happen in the first half type thing. I thought we just built across the game, we played a lot of football.

Q: Can you give us your perspective with Rhys Patchell in the first half, you seemed very frustrated it led to a penalty and then a try.

Hooper: The Kerevi incident? I can’t remember word for word my discussion with him. I don’t know how to carry into a player, as a player I am trying to make a dominant carry and he has used poor tackle tech and fallen back. I don’t know what Samu could have done there. I was just asking in future, because the decision was made and that’s alright. But what can we do to make it not happen again. And that was the discussion me and Romaine were happening.

Q: What feedback did you get?

MH: He kept referring to the incident itself, which is fine. 

Q: You have had some narrow margins with Wales over the last year. Do you think Wales a World Cup contender?

MC: I don’t think that’s for me to talk about. We have played our game against them. We move on. They won. It’s on to the next game. It’s not my place to talk about that.

Q: Michael Cheika can we get your perspective on the Kerevi incident?

MC: It was funny because I thought I had seen that tackle before, it could have been Reece Hodge. I am not sure. But when our guy makes that tackle and has the high tackle framework in his head, he gets suspended. But this guy doesn’t think about the high tackle framework and get penalised. 

So you have seen it. You don’t need me to … As a rugby player, as a former rugby player, I am embarrassed. As a rugby player I am embarrassed about it.

Q: Just on that conversation (between Hooper and Poite), were you guys aware of you can’t fend and can’t lead with your forearm?

MC: Oh look, I don’t know every directive, there have been a few of them come out. I think you may have seen his arm hit the chest, I don’t know if that’s illegal or not, to be honest. I don’t know any more. I don’t know the rules anymore, honestly. I don’t know the rules anymore.

Q: Both Michaels, I cover rugby in Brazil and in Brazil football is not so hard. Is rugby in danger of getting softer?

MC: This is a tough one right (laughs). You have to take care mate, you have to look after players. But not to an extreme where you are looking after players just for doctors and lawyers. You have to look after players for players.

MH: My take on it is I am pretty battered and bruised so it doesn’t feel like it is getting any softer. I like to make it an 80-minute game, not 95 minutes.

Q: Were you worried about the incident with Dan Biggar that you might get put off?

MH: No, I knew I hit him low. I didn’t hit him in the head. I found it tough to pull out. That’s the thing with slow-mo. Slow-mo can make it look like anything right? I think that was probably fair in the end. I would have been surprised if it went any further. Geez, you’d hope not. You don’t know.

Just on us, we were probably ill-disciplined in the first half and Wales some of their shots on goal, even the drop goal was a change-up that worked quite well for them and was probably the difference in the end.

Q: Are you concerned about the fact you are leaving until 40-50 minutes in a match before you start getting your game going. Are you giving away too much headstart in these games?

MC: No, some bits and pieces conspired against us in the first half, early on. I am not quite sure why we would be collapsing the scrum when we are pushing the other team forward. And the referee penalises them and then changes the decision to us, against us. The linesman tells him. And those sort of things change momentum, you are the World Cup. It is going to be tight. You have to build a game as well. You are not always going to be in front. You have to build pressure and build positive outcomes and momentum, sometimes when you are behind. Because sometimes the scoring is not always in your control. So I am not worried about it at all. 

I think when we are starting well, we have to convert some more points, and that could come at some stage in the next game. Get it on with it from there.

Q: Question about referees (unintelligible)

MC: They all seem spooked. They’re all worried about stuff, so much. I am not sure why they’re worried. The players aren’t worried. Then it’s affecting everything else on the field as well, all types of crazy stuff. I heard that English guy got off (Piers Francis) at the suspension thing. I don’t want to say anything, you know. But it shows, if you are not confused … maybe the lights going out at the end was a bit of a symbol.

Q: I guess administrators say they’re trying to protect the players.

MC: Mate, the administrators are spooking the referees. Referees are worried about making the wrong decisions. And they’re becoming ultra-cautious about everything. It is not inviting to the fans. Why should there be booing over there in a game like that. With those types of crowds?

There shouldn’t be people booing. And they’re not booing the players either. That shouldn’t be happening.

Q: How happy were you with Matt Toomua in the second half?

MC: Matt has done very well there you know. He has come on in that game and we obviously strategised the back end of the game a bit and we felt we could come home strong, with that style of finishing team. He just took the ball to the line, when it was on to go to the line. We gave him some good go-forward to, we probably didn’t have as much in the first half. He is playing some nice footy you know.

Q: On the things you can control, how do you assess the kicking in the game and the missed kicks?

MC: How many did we miss? One? He would have liked to get that for sure but it wasn’t too terrible. Out of hand I don’t think we were too bad. IT was so close when we kicked for touch at the end, you know. Dane put up a bomb that he could have almost dragged the guy oiuytside the 22, we practised a bit of variation. I don’t think kicking was much of an issue.

 

Share