O’Connell criticises refereeing decisions

ALTHOUGH heartened by the British & Irish Lions stirring fight-back against South Africa in Durban on Saturday captain Paul O’Connell has reacted angrily to the performance of New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence.
The tourists lost 21-26 to the Springboks, but not before Lawrence penalized Phil Vickery five times for standing up in the scrum or binding incorrectly which eventually forced the withdrawal of the Englishman.
The entire Lions pack, including Munster’s Paul O’Connell, felt aggrieved by those decisions.


“The scrums were disappointing because we had so many penalties, especially in good attacking situations,” O’Connell explained.
“That’s something we have to look at. The referee said Phil was constantly boring in, but I didn’t think so.
“Phil is a very experienced prop who has played rugby at the top for a long time.
“Why he would make the same mistake at four or five scrums is beyond me.”
Those penalties helped South Africa into a 26-7 lead early in the second half before Adam Jones replaced Vickery and the Lions scored 14 unanswered points to set up a grand finale.
“When we played rugby, we were very good,” Paul O’Connell insisted.
“We opened them up and we have just got to keep doing that. I think we ran out of time. But when the ref gives that many penalties against you, you don’t really stand a chance. It was just penalty, after penalty, after penalty.
“It’s going to be difficult now, but there is still a lot of belief there. When we played how we wanted to play, we did very well and created lots of scoring opportunities. I think the guys will be looking forward to next week.”
The second Test takes place at the Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, the nation’s capital, next Saturday.
And, with the Lions heartened by their second half display in Durban - it was truly extraordinary to see the South Africans relieved to hoof the ball into the stands after the world champions held on for a five-point win - Ian McGeechan’s side will hope for a more positive result in Pretoria.
The Lions also have to contend with a mid-week game against the Emerging Springboks on Tuesday in Cape Town (2pm, Sky Sports) before traveling to Pretoria on Friday - Cappamore’s John Hayes, who was called up to replace Scotland’s Euan Murray on Thursday, has now joined the touring party.
Although Ian McGeechan’s men won all six of their warm-up games Saturday’s defeat means the Lions have now lost six Tests in-a-row since beating Australia in the first match of the 2001 series in Brisbane.
The final two tests, both of which will be played at altitude, take place in Pretoria and Johannesburg - never before have the Lions won Tests at both venues on the same tour.
Meanwhile Munster forward John O’Sullivan has signed a two-year deal with French second-tier club Agen. The 28-year-old, who can play in all three back-row positions, spent four seasons with the two-time European champions, making 33 Magners League and three Heineken Cup appearances.
The Tralee man joined Munster in 2005 after spell with Connacht.
O’Sullivan was released from his Munster contract at the end of the 2008-09 season, but now resumes his professional rugby-playing career in France.

BRIAN MCDONNELL