Time for the Welsh regions to walk away !!!!!

I know that I am going to take bashing off the Irish supporters here, but for far to long we have seen biased reffing when it comes to the big three provinces from Ireland. Tonight Munster were allowed to do what they wanted, and Paul Tito as captian was just dismissed by the ref like a little school boy. What I just watched was scandelous. I think the WRU should have a shorter club season then have a regional competition at the end of the year and stick two fingers up to the IRFU because there is clearley an agenda aimed at keeping the Irish clubs on top. For to long I have watched Munster, Leinster, Ulster basicaly get games gifted to them by Irish refs, and I am always being told that it is because the Irish teams know how to play the ref, Blah,Blah,Blah. Last season I remember the the same happening. I do not care what anybody types here to tell me I am wrong, because I know what I just saw. Tonights ref let even more obvious forward passes go for Munster than the last one for the Blues, and do not get me started with the scrum. He constantly warned the Blues about their dicsipline but Munster gave away more penalties. How can we expect this league to progress with this standard of reffing. Munster were gifted the game tonight by a very poor ref, no wonder people do not want to turn up for these games when we have performances from certain refs who are so biased it is unbeleivable.

Sorry but you had forward passes, missed kicks at goal, two tries which were rightly disallowed and a lot of knocksons to blame for that not the ref.

Blues just cant take scoring opportunities, same as last week against Ulster, scored 3 points .....

Artful, he gave a penalty against the Blues for chopsing, then told Tito that he is not the ref and his decision is final, then let Peter Stringer ref the game for 20 mins without reprive !!!!

There is a saying you create your own luck, this is what the Irish teams do. But not by cheating. The Blues were unlucky but could not take the game when it was there for them which is a great skill the Irish teams have along with holding out to the very end.

Irish Curry, the only skill Munster showed tonight was Keatley's kicking, the ref handed that game to Munster on a plate, no skill involved at all I'm sorry.

is there some kind of international competition between Wales and Australia to be the worst losers that I'm unaware of?

Dowlais, Cardiff could have won in spite of the ref. I have no sympathy for them. A better team would have done so. If they hadn't passed forwards and Sweeney had slotted his kick there would be a victory for Cardiff nobody would have given ref a moments notice.

The Limerick side got lucky tonight.

I didn't say they showed it tonight I simply said that they have it. I agree though that Munster were poor but the Blues failed to take their chances. The Blues could have won, the Blues should have won, the Blues would have won if the had not failed to take their chances.

Cymro - yes Munster were lucky. Sometimes you need that. They were lucky that the ref was bad AND Cardiff Blues were poor. However referee aside Blues could have won it. They didn't.

The Blues would have won with a neutral ref

Cymroglan wrote:The Limerick side got lucky tonight.

Yeah they did, but why can't Welsh fans accept that failing to score points is the root cause of them not winning games? They had three chances to score that were ruled out by the officials and all three were very marginal decisions, but correct decisions.

Why can't you just take it on the chin when your teams play badly instead of whinging about it? And whats with the way you all think the ref is biased? What evidence is there for that?

The Blues were mouthing off to him all night. They were lucky not to get a card!

Cymroglan wrote:The Blues would have won with a neutral ref

On what evidence? The Blues got demolished against Ulster last week despite a Welsh ref. Munster hammered Scarlets despite a neutral ref. In this match Blues could have won. It is their own fault they didn't win.

It is this attitude that prevents Welsh regions from doing well.

Stringer was mouthing off ref took no notice of it.
Munster guilty of a cynical penalty in the red zone should have been a yellow.

Last week Ulster beat the Blues and the ref was....Welsh.

Last year we had all the HooHaa about the Scarlets match at Ravenhill and the ref was....Scottish.

Tonight the tries were disallowed by the TMO who was....Welsh.

At least one of the forward passes was called by the TJ who was....Welsh.



Not looking too good for your theory there.

red_stag wrote:

Cymroglan wrote:The Blues would have won with a neutral ref

On what evidence? The Blues got demolished against Ulster last week despite a Welsh ref. Munster hammered Scarlets despite a neutral ref. In this match Blues could have won. It is their own fault they didn't win.

It is this attitude that prevents Welsh regions from doing well.

The ref tonight had it in for the Blues.

Instead of thinking there is a pro-Irish consipracy going on here, surely the main issue is the standard of refereeing in the Pro12. It isn't good enough and that applies to all teams. We saw the same thing last season. Something needs to be done about it, but thinking the Irish are being favoured over us isn't the way to go.

Yes the ref was poor, but that doesn't change the fact that the last pass was forward and that two 50/50 decisions went against the Blues. That just happens. Sweeney should have slotted his kicks over and the Blues should have won the game. They didn't, and I'm very disappointed for them, but there's no reffing consipracy going on here.

Cymro, I suspect you're only having a bit of fun now.

A - You've now referred to Musnter as Limerick 3 times; no doubt some reference to the town/regional thing in Wales

B - On a number of occasions you just say "the ref is biases/had it in/didn't want them to win" etc without any backup

I reckon your simply trying to get a rise from some Irish posters.

Look guy's, this is not just about tonights game, this is a culmination of every game I have seen when an Irish ref is in charge when an Irish team is playing. It happened to the Ospreys in Munster last year, I saw it when Leinster were playing the Blues last year, I saw it when Ulster beat the Scarlets with a last minute penalty last year, and I have seen it again this year, not just tonight. You Irish fans can argue all you like but your refs are totally biased towards your own teams and it is embarrassing.

i've said this on another thread. i dont believe that refs win or lose games for a team. it's about playing the ref and quickly adapting to what he will allow.
I dont think any of the welsh teams are particularly savvy when it comes to playing the tef. munster and leicester are past masters of it. i didnt see tonights games so i cant comment specifically, but usually as the one team adapt and get away with it. the other gets frustrayed and errors creep in in!

I notcie it largely the Welsh people who give out about refs. He was poor from what I saw,but he doesn't put points on the board,the Blues had 4 try-scoring chances and only took 1 that is just not good enough if you want to win rugby matches.

There is only one thing thats embarrassing here Dowlias.....

By the way it was a Scottish ref that officiated the Ulster and Scarlets match last season.

LordDowlais wrote:Look guy's, this is not just about tonights game, this is a culmination of every game I have seen when an Irish ref is in charge when an Irish team is playing. It happened to the Ospreys in Munster last year, I saw it when Leinster were playing the Blues last year, I saw it when Ulster beat the Scarlets with a last minute penalty last year, and I have seen it again this year, not just tonight. You Irish fans can argue all you like but your refs are totally biased towards your own teams and it is embarrassing.

I'm pretty sure that was a Scottish ref. Both Scarlets v Ulster games last season had Scottish refs I believe, I know one of them definitely did anyway!!

I've got to be honest; I saw Stringer shouting the occasional thing but that's what you see all the time. Cardiff players were a lot more demonstrative and out of line to the referee.

There have been so many times when Ulster have had poor decisions go against them, but nobody is talking about leaving the league or conspiracy theories. Sorry to say it, but its time to grow up.

Feic it lads, lets call their bluff.

Walk away - where will you go? A league between the 4 regions? Start from scratch and look at the club game all over again. . . Nah your stuck with us like it or lump it. And THIS is how its gonna be

Don't like it? Well off you go nobodys stopping you. You know the story and the balls in your court

Not the one at Parc Y Scarlets he was Irish.

A, Stag I don't do wums but yes some of your colleagues do insist on calling the regions by their town or city names knowing full well that most Welsh fans don't like it.

B For instance that cynical penalty in the red zone deserved a yellow.

C If people get wound up on a computer they need to go out a bit more often.

If the Welsh regions want to walk let them,they can't exactly do any worse than they are doing currently......

Blues really do deserve a kick in the head for chucking what was quite frankly a winnable game with silly errors, indiscipline and horrible finishing. It's performances like that that make me sick to my stomach with embarrassment and disbelief.

To be 9 behind at HT despite around 80% possession and territory on your side is mind-blowing and not in a good way.

Sweeney had considerably easier kicks to deal with than Keatley but couldn't cope, pathetic.

The ref wasn't doing them any favours but considering the opportunities they had under their noses they didn't need him to. Instead they somehow failed to produce anything clinical or any conviction in the face of gaping technical advantages.

Blues looked clueless in comparison to any side that knows how to win full stop. For some I really question their motives of heading out onto that field tonight if that was what they had to say for themselves.

Also, not all the Scottish ones are fully Scottish, isn't Nigel Pearson or Patterson, what ever his name is half Irish but represents Scotland as a ref but lives in Dublin ?

What was wrong with the officiating in that one Dowlias, as I recall Pienaar kicked a 50 metre penalty in the last play to win because of blatant illegal binding in the scrum.

You dont like Scottish refs, you dont like Irish refs, you had a Welsh ref last week and Blues got demolished - you really need to take defeat better.

I'm not wound up. I'm acutally quite happy with my team's win in fact

I agree with you about the cynical penalty in the red zone. I don't think Wilkinson had a good game. I do think he was just that - poor - not out to cheat anyone and above all else I think a better team would have won regardless.

I have no sympathy for the Blues. Their fate was in their own hands.

Really Dolwais I thought it was McPhaerson or someone like that, will go check now....

yep Andy Mcpherson http://www.scarlets.co.uk/eng/rugby/3574.php and he's Scottish.

The author of the article said the Welsh regions should walk and now some people think this is a official statement from the WRU

On the plus side, Cuthbert looks like a quality player for the future.

Artful_Dodger wrote:What was wrong with the officiating in that one Dowlias, as I recall Pienaar kicked a 50 metre penalty in the last play to win because of blatant illegal binding in the scrum.

You dont like Scottish refs, you dont like Irish refs, you had a Welsh ref last week and Blues got demolished - you really need to take defeat better.

I may be foreced to disagree with you on that point

That match the ref was rubbish, but equally so for both sides. It evened itself out. Scarlets should have won it but just wasted their chances in the 2nd half. That match is history anyway

rugbydreamer wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:Look guy's, this is not just about tonights game, this is a culmination of every game I have seen when an Irish ref is in charge when an Irish team is playing. It happened to the Ospreys in Munster last year, I saw it when Leinster were playing the Blues last year, I saw it when Ulster beat the Scarlets with a last minute penalty last year, and I have seen it again this year, not just tonight. You Irish fans can argue all you like but your refs are totally biased towards your own teams and it is embarrassing.

I'm pretty sure that was a Scottish ref. Both Scarlets v Ulster games last season had Scottish refs I believe, I know one of them definitely did anyway!!

The funny thing about that is Scarlets were awarded a penalty try in that game that could have easily not been given! I don't think he did that because he was pro-Scarlets I just think he made what he thought was the best decision at the time. Scarlets gave away a penalty in the last minute at the scrum which they didn't need to do and we kicked it.

This doesn't apply to you necessarily dreamer by the way- I think you've been quite fair and measured- but some fans seem to want to hide behind conspiracy theories instead of just realising that maybe, maybe, sometimes you just aren't clinical enough.

LordDowlais wrote:On the plus side, Cuthbert looks like a quality player for the future.

Agree, I also like Dan Fish.

Also, please do not take what I think and say as a direct quote from the WRU. If I had my way we would still have the Warriors as a region, but that is another argument

Don't worry we all understand its not an official plea from WRU - just teasing out your scenario. There is nowhere for you to go, you need the Irish teams and need the Irish referees

red_stag wrote:

LordDowlais wrote:On the plus side, Cuthbert looks like a quality player for the future.

Agree, I also like Dan Fish.

Yeah I was very impressed by Cuthbert and Fish. They still lack cohesion as team but Cardiff do have some promising youngsters.

Dowlais,

You are just making stuff up now.

Last season Ulster beat the Welsh regions in 5 out of six meetings.

4 of those games were reffed by Scots, one by a Welshman and one by an Irishman.

The two biggest questions for me:

1 - Why not buy a #10 this summer.
2 - Why not start Casey Laulala

Both crazy decisions!

1. - no money
2. - not sure, perhaps he was caryying a slight niggle and didn't want him to play the full 80? otherwise, baffling.

Cymroglan wrote: A, Stag I don't do wums but yes some of your colleagues do insist on calling the regions by their town or city names knowing full well that most Welsh fans don't like it.

Er I do it a lot with the Cardiff blues, I just always think of them as Cardiff. Sorry I didn't realise it caused offence to Welsh fans at all .

Anyways I think the OP is way OTT but I thought the referee was awful tonight. Munster were good for the win, mainly down to Keatleys kicking and the blues failure to take their chances. The Rabo need to sort these Refs though because that was unacceptable.

Unfortunatley stag, you are correct for the time being But we can all agree that the standard of reffereing is crap. If we want our league to flourish things need to change, because I would rather talk about the teams and not the refs. Perhaps we could get a few non pro 12 national refs and import some English/Southern hemisphere refs until our refs can up their standards. But I do live in hope that we can hold our own competition in years to come, then treat the Rabbo as a sort of super twelve/fourteen competition

Rodders the problem is:

1 - There are around 7 or 8 Pro12 referees at the World Cup
2 - The referees who do well in domestic competitions need exposure at higher levels
3 - There is a MASSIVE jump between domestic rugby leagues and Pro 12.

The standard of play is quite poor in the league right now because all the best players are away at the World Cup.

I wonder if all the best referees being away at the... nah, sorry. I thought I had something there for a second there but it's slipped away

That said, there are quite a few dodgy refs in the league. The standard of refereeing noticeably improves at Heineken Cup level.

Hey, if the Welsh guys walk away would you Irish fellas want to join the English premiership? We'd welcome you.

Also an interesting point. There are no professional referees in Ireland. Rolland, Clancy, Lacey, Wilkinson, Lewis, Fitzgibbon etc etc are all amatuers - they hold down jobs and referee in spare time.