And the latest coach to eat sour grapes is....

[smalldell]

We have lost games because the opposition has played the ref better and thats what we did against Saracens.

Refs are inconsistent in that they all choose to ref different infringements at the breakdown, but thats the fault of the game or the beauty of it. Saracens got away with murder at the breakdown in the the first half (I was there) and Leicester smartly dug themsleves out of the hole.....

On another day it will work against Tigers.......

[Dave J]

Yes the standard of refereeing in the GP is poor but to imply that Tigers influenced the ref at half time is ridiculous. After all that's gone on in the off season rugby is under a microscope and has to be seen to be whiter than white plus the fact that it was at their ground, surely the home team would be better placed to have a quiet word somewhere out of sight. Could it not simply be a case of Tigers making half time adjustments and playing the ref better in the 2nd half.

[Noggs]

Mr Venter, just accept the fact you were beaten by a more street-wise team yesterday. Leicester had the majority of possession and territory in the first half and the 6-3 half-time score flattered the Saffies. In the second half, Leicester upped it a gear and the Watford Whingers couldn't stay the distance.

If I want to hear managers or head coaches bleating on ad nauseum every time a decision goes against their team, I'll listen to the red-nosed clown from Old Trafford.

The 'clown' has just lost 1-0 to Leeds in the Cup

Back to rugby.

Question: Are any of the refs still speaking to Cockers?

The case for the defence rests

[Big Dai]

Sounded to me....and I only had the voices of the incomparable Bleddyn and Steve to go on......we gave a lot of penaties away by killing the ball, side entry etc. in the first half and they failed to scrumage legally in the second!

Seems to me Sarries need to work on their scrum and we need to work on the breakdown.

By the way the annoucement of the Tigers try on the radio was interesting. Something like "we've gone quickly through Youngs, now the forwards have a go, just a few metres left, Oh no.....we've given away a penalty, no it's a try, Brett deacon I think.......(Steve intejects "No it's Louis")....Try then Lewis Deacon.

Turns out to have been Danny! Just what is going on!

.........HmmmmmmGot a little off topic there! Anyway. Belt up Venter!

[westwinds31]

Sadly, I don't think we've heard the last of this, the RFU are "looking into it" apparently. The obvious question to be asked is, would he have made those comments if they'd won ? I think we know the answer to that one. Talk about a bad loser, apart from the opening scrummage, I think we had more than the upper hand, hence the number of penalties against Sarries as the game went on. Mr Venter needs to learn how to lose gracefully, rather than just bleat when things start going wrong.

[Goffer3404]

Sounds like the RFU is now getting involved.
Maybe he should go back to being GP in London as rugby was never his "first love" allegedly!

[Simmo]

RFU investigation likely into Ventner's comments......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_u ... 438616.stm

[Simmo]

Can't argue with you there Pam.B.

I'll do you a deal....let me publish the next one first and I'll promise to spell Venter's name right. (not sure what I typed but I got it right in an earlier post)

[Tigerbeat]

Stuart Barnes says in his Times column, " If Venter is fined for his brave outburst yesterday, there are a number of people who may be inclined to chip in to help him out.Whether or not he needs the money, the sport needs the brutality of his honesty."

The reffing of the break down needs to be reviewed and a consistency across the board agreed.

May be sour grapes due to his loss but he has also had the benefit of some reffing this season too.

A brave coach to come out with these comments. If it does mean that the breakdown is managed in a consistent manner by all referees and understood by all Clubs I will be happy.

However, I will not hold my breath

[westwinds31]

Here are some of Venter's after-match comments:

After beating Northampton at Wembley - If the club can do something like this game at Wembley, I want to be part of it. What a day, what an atmosphere.
"The yellow card came with 15 minutes to go and in my opinion that's not the way rugby is played.
"A scrum-half can't deliberately throw the ball into Schalk, put his hands in the air and say he was guilty of lazy running - Lee Dickson is the culprit here and not Schalk." (similar to the Youngs v Borthwick incident)

After beating Newcastle -
"Newcastle played really well today, they attacked with shape and got a lot of quick ball. I thought three tries to nil was not a fair reflection of the game.
"We didn't play well as individuals but we played well as a team. That is what bailed us out today. Some of our real stars were not on fire and there were little mistakes with the ball going down.
"For me as a coach, the most rewarding thing was we can go out there and do that when we are not playing well."

After beating Bath - That game could have gone either way, but whatever the result, it wouldn't have changed how courageous our approach was.
"Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in the second half, but the guys kept going. It was courage and determination - they fought it out.
"The moment you look ahead, you cannot see the stumbling blocks and you fall flat on your face."

After beating Wasps -
"Winning is becoming a bit of a drug. We won't win every game, that's the nature of rugby. But we are very difficult to beat and our line-out and scrum were magnificent.
"Someone asked Tiger Woods his motivation and he replied that he hated losing. The same question was put to Roger Federer and he said it was his love of winning. I want us to be like Federer."

After beating Sale -
"In those conditions, Derick was outstanding. He not only kicked his goals but also controlled the game in the important areas.
"Pre-match I told the boys they would be winners tonight because they are a team with enormous character. We have a lot of very talented players and we fought back from going behind.
"There's a long way to go. Our next league game will be the halfway mark but I believe we can win the title, we are good enough as a squad."

After the draw at Worcester -
"I thought our team played really well. I don't think we have played that well and been 9-3 down at half-time before.
"There were so many opportunities out there for us to score tries but we have got two points and we keep going.
"I'm proud of the team. I'll tell them when I'm unhappy and tonight is not one of them."

So, only some snippets, but no mention of referees inconsistency in decision-making at the breakdown.

[tigerburnie]

http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/mat ... _1,00.html
Here's another,now is there a connection here,SH coach maybe?,not playing in London but pretending they are?,just very poor losers? ah that'll be it.
What price our referee gets nobbled before next week?