Warren Gatland 'furious' with ref's decision
Chiefs head coach Warren Gatland has said he is ‘furious’ after his side lost their third game in a row in Super Rugby Aotearoa. The Blues and Crusaders remain the only unbeaten teams in New Zealand’s new competition after the Crusaders won their match against the Chiefs 18-13 in Christchurch on Sunday.
In wet, greasy conditions, Will Jordan scored twice for the Crusaders to give them two wins from two matches and extended their unbeaten home record to 35.
The Blues, who have played an extra game, notched their third win on Saturday when they held off a hard-finishing Highlanders 27-24. The Chiefs have now lost three from three, the Wellington Hurricanes have lost two from two and the Highlanders have a win and a loss.
It was a battle of attrition in Christchurch with the tone set midweek when Crusaders prop Joe Moody talked of a “deep-seated hatred” of the Chiefs, which gave visiting coach Warren Gatland all the ammunition he needed for his pre-match pep talk.
Gatland, who will take a break from the Chiefs next year to coach the B&I Lions in South Africa, let his emotions get the better of him in the post-match reaction.
Gatland questioned what he felt was the lenient attitude of referee James Doleman towards the Crusaders at the breakdown.
His biggest gripe was the refereeing in the build-up to fullback Will Jordan’s second try.
The Crusaders’ first try came when Sevu Reece beat Damian McKenzie in the air to reclaim Richie Mo’unga’s clearing kick and sent Jordan away for the try.
Jordan’s second try early in the second half came from another Chiefs error, when an Aaron Cruden pass went into touch.
While the Chiefs switched off believing there would be a reset for a line-out, Reece took a quick throw-in to Jordan rushing up from fullback and he ran 30 metres untouched to the line.
”We were furious because we just felt the breakdown before it [the try], we felt Goodhue should have been penalised,” Gatland told a post-match media briefing.
“To me, it was a tough decision, and then for them to take a quick throw and us not to react to it,” the winless Chiefs coach added.
“I just thought it was a certain penalty to us, I thought Goodhue made a tackle, and he’s ended up rolling into our side and slowed the ball down.”
Chiefs scrumhalf Brad Weber was heard deliberating the laws with the referee and he continued to remonstrate well after the ball had been flicked into touch.
Doleman could clearly be heard telling Weber at the ruck: ”no, you’re pushing him [teammate] into him. Brad, stop.”
The Chiefs, including flyhalf Aaron Cruden, continued to make their case after the try was awarded, Doleman again dismissed the Chiefs.
“Don’t have a go at me, away you go,” he said.
With the constant rain forcing handling errors and dictating a bruising forward clash with lots of kicking by the backs, the result came down to the Crusaders capitalising on the two opportunities that went their way.
“We knew it was going to be a confrontational game and we had to make sure the breakdown was really clean,” Crusaders captain Codie Taylor said.
“A young fella like Will Jordan who’s on his toes and just wants to get involved and it’s awesome to see the boys backing their skills especially in conditions like this.”
Chiefs captain Sam Cane called it a “classic arm wrestle” which came down to the Crusaders making the most of key moments.
“There wasn’t much between the two sides and credit to the Crusaders, a couple of opportunistic tries, and a couple of moments can really swing a game,” Cane said.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments