Springboks’ coach Peter de Villiers has been so far unimpressed with refereeing performances in the Tri-Nations.
South Africa have been handed their third consecutive Irish referee for their Tri-Nations clash against Australia in Brisbane this weekend.
De Villiers finds northern hemisphere interpretations inconsistent with those from the Southern hemisphere.
“We are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea,” De Villiers said at a press conference.
“The Super 14 law focus is supposed to be the way the 2011 World Cup will be blown, but this does not appear to have got through to the northern hemisphere referees,” he said.
“Let me give you some Super 14 facts. The most penalised team in this year’s competition was the Crusaders with 96, and many of their penalties were for slowing the ball down.
“At the weekend, five of the All Blacks’ ten penalties were for Richie McCaw slowing the ball down.
“The Hurricanes conceded the second-most penalties and as a result never got their game going.
“The implication is that the New Zealand teams did not embrace the new law focus as our teams did.
“We have done our utmost to comply with the new interpretations so that the game is a spectacle, which is the whole point of the new emphasis.”
