Six Nations 2010: Scotland question quality of refereeing against England

By Alasdair Reid 837PM GMT sixteen March 2010

Injury disbelief Scotland"s Kelly Brown runs transparent of Welsh close Alun-Wyn Jones Photo AFP

Reflecting on the 15-15 outcome of last Saturday"s Calcutta Cup compare at Murrayfield, the Scotland manager could not censor his beating as he claimed that his side had been given a severe float by referees via this Six Nations championship.

Two aspects of Saturday"s diversion had been quite vitriolic for Robinson.

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The initial was the actuality that compare arbitrate Marius Jonker penalised England on countless occasions for not rolling afar from the tackle, but never followed by on his hazard to issue a yellow card.

The second was that Scotland"s scrum, that Robinson deliberate a higher section to England"s, was not authorised to move that value to bear.

Massimo Cuttitta, the Scotland scrummaging coach, stretched on that point by claiming that England had collapsed the scrum twelve times, but had usually had one chastisement awarded opposite them.

Scotland, he added, had brought the set-piece down once, and were additionally penalised for you do so. "Basically, what the arbitrate was you do was dusk things up," pronounced Cuttitta, who won 68 caps at column for Italy.

To have counts worse, Scotland"s scrum corruption opposite England gave Jonny Wilkinson a chastisement that he duly converted. As Robinson said, it was the third compare in period where a in all excusable scrummaging opening by Scotland had still seen points conceded in that proviso of the game.

Robinson pronounced "One of the key frustrations and greatest beating for me in the last 3 matches is how the scrum has been penalised.

"Against Wales when we were putting the round in there were dual penalties conceded and they cost us 6 points. Against Italy a scrum chastisement cost us 3 points. And again, this week end a scrum chastisement cost us an additional 3 points, when we"re putting the round in."

Cuttitta referred to that England had forsaken the scrum on the loosehead side 6 times, and on the tighthead side on an additional 6 occasions. Robinson directed transparent of the arithmetic, but he was still austere that his players had not been given the insurance they deserved.

"All those issues could have been dealt with had the law been applied," pronounced Robinson. "It was really transparent that each time we longed for to put the round in they longed for to lift it down."

Whatever the rights and wrongs of those sold grievances, Robinson would be personification a unsure diversion if he done a robe of suggesting that referees are the victims of their own preconceptions, some-more prone to take a oppressive line opposite offences committed by the side they understand to be underdogs.

So given have Scotland had such a severe time of it recently? "Good question," he shot back. "Why are we not removing sin-bins? Why are we not removing those opportunities? I thought there were definite opportunities at the week end for sin-bins [against England] and they weren"t given.

"If the arbitrate allows you to do it [not rolling away] you will go on to do it. I"m not criticising the antithesis for you do that. All I"m asking is that we have clever refereeing. What you do question, though, is if that had been us would we have been sin-binned? And you have to ask that given of what"s happened in the prior games."

Robinson was referring privately to Scotland"s compare opposite Wales, when Phil Godman was shown a yellow label for obstruction. Video replays of the incident, that authorised Wales to turn the scores, referred to that Godman had been cruelly treated.

The manager had been approaching to have have use of of Tuesday"s lecture to name his side to face Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday, but doubt caused by injuries amassed in the march of the Calcutta Cup diversion have forced him to check display his palm for an additional twenty-four hours.

The majority poignant of those appears to be the head hit postulated by flanker Kelly Brown in an nauseous situation with England winger Ugo Monye. Both players were taken off after that situation Brown on foot giddily, Monye on a bracket and the Scot will right away have to go by customary neurological tests to prove the healing authorities that he has suffered no ill effects.

"If there was a six-day turnaround this week afterwards Kelly would not be there, " explained Robinson. "But he"s following all the right protocols and formed on that we"ll have the right decision."

Brown competence have been in superb form in new matches, but it is not so prolonged given he was Scotland"s third preference in the blindside position. Injuries to Jason White and Alasdair Strokosch propelled him forward, but they have left Robinson with couple of alternative possibilities to wear the No 6 shirt.

Leinster"s Nathan Hines, routinely a lock, has played in that on all sides in the past. His disintegrating proceed competence well equate in his foster as would his minute believe of an antithesis side that will embody a series of his clubmates in the ranks.