‘Ref what you see’ – Dragons boss demands answers for multiple referee decisions

Dylan Coetzee
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan during a warm-up.

Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan during a warm-up.

Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan spectacularly ranted about multiple decisions made by referee Eoghan Cross in their 10-31 United Rugby Championship loss to the Bulls at Rodney Parade.

It was a brave effort from the hosts, but the high-flying Bulls were too much on the day, with Springboks superstar Willie le Roux magnificently pulling the strings for the Pretoria men.

The Bulls scored four tries through Kurt-Lee Arendse, Mpilo Gumede, Embrose Papier and Johan Grobelaar whilst the hosts could only manage a late score from Corey Baldwin.

Need answers

Flanagan, however, felt some calls on the field were not correct and demanded justification for the decisions.

The coach clarified that he was not blaming the referee specifically but strongly suggested the team of match officials should have been more accurate on the night.

“I can see why my players dropped off potentially in that last 10 minutes,” The Dragons boss said. “A lot of decisions in that game that probably need answering.

“There’s a position where the 15 has got his back to his posts, one arm tapping the ball down; there’s no chance he can catch a ball. If he can, I’d love people to show me a repetition of how you catch the ball that way.

“I’m not blaming the ref; it’s a four-man officiating team. He’s on his own in the middle, and Rodney Parade is quite intimidating. He needs help, doesn’t he?’ ref what you see. It’s not his fault.

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“The first try, pass before the line, catch five metres after the line, never gets looked at,” he continued. “Again, please justify how that’s not forward. Things like that hurt momentum and hurt teams’ enthusiasm. I thought for long periods, I really liked what we’d done tonight. We showed great ambition playing from deep, moved the ball a lot, and changed the point of contact a lot.

“They’re an outstanding team, good athletes around the park. We knew it was going to take a giant effort to get anything, but all we hope for is ref what you see.”

The result had very different impacts on the sides with the Bulls in second position on the table whilst the Dragons fall to last place.

READ MORE: Leinster and Bulls show class as top two claim dominant wins in the United Rugby Championship

Bulls Dai Flanagan

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