All Lions Want is a "Fair Deal" of Arbitrators

Johannesburg – Shortly before leaving for New Zealand, Lions coach Swys de Bruin raised the old specter of New Zealand teams who were murdered by officials before Saturday's Super Rugby final. He wants that there is a balance when it comes to refereeing the game of the season.

The Lions know that they are obliged to travel to the other side of the world for the single match, but SANZAAR's decision to appoint a neutral referee before the finalists are known has already raised eyebrows last week. , according to the website supersport.com .

After New Zealand complained at the appointment of Jaco Peyper, SANZAAR decided to nominate Australian Angus Gardner as the referee for the final, but he then inexplicably decided to keep two New Zealand assistant referees for the game. Bruin too well.

A more equitable appointment would have been to keep Jaco Peyper, who refereed at Christchurch last weekend for the final flag, thus giving the nomination of an Australian referee and South American assistant referees. African and New Zealand. SANZAAR has appointed New Zealanders Glen Jackson and Nic Berry as assistant referees while Shane McDermott will be the TMO. All three are New Zealanders.

Given the fierce battle that the Lions are already battling, De Bruin is particularly concerned about how the Crusaders defense sneaks onto the attacking team and as a team that likes the space it wants the offside line to the letter. the law. The Crusaders had plenty of room for maneuver throughout the season in their line speed, and conceded the least tries in the competition accordingly.

"They conceded a few tries but they are still No. 1. One thing we need to remember is at home.We will have a good meeting with the referees before the time and the offside lines do not apply to both camps.They can not, because they are champions and that people think that they are good, get by with some things.And I'm going Make sure we meet the refs on this subject, "said De Bruin.

"Because they go through their clips – and you know me, I talk from the heart – there are a lot of things that escape them, more than other teams, like the offside line, like the shot on the left side of the head, stuff like that.so i'm going to have this conversation like that for them.We need a fair deal, all we ask is right and i hope we We will get it. "

De Bruin said that Lions are a camp that likes to play positively and attack and believe that if the pitch is equal, they will have a chance in Christchurch.

"It's a modern trend to rush like this, as long as you do it under the law, that's fine, because there are ways around that." Always have spaces available.You can not rush or kill all the space all the time.This makes things harder for the team that likes the attacks, but what we need, that is It's space to attack, a team like us, so I'm going to make sure we have these discussions and we have that space. "

The Lions coach said he was surprised that SANZAAR named Gardner, who had a torrid run in the test series in June when a red card was subsequently canceled in the New Zealand-France match before the finalists announcement.

"Yes a little, it seems like there is a change in the system, I was hoping for at least one South African referee (assistant referee) but you know, so I do not want to say too much about it, but it seems that there has been a change of system, but enough said. "

And insisted on this point, he said the concern was more the assistant referees, who are responsible to patrol the offside lines. If they leave room for defense against the rush too early, it will make it impossible for the Lions to launch an attack. De Bruin showed examples of what happened in Saturday's semifinal between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes.

"Exactly, we're going to fix it, it's a concern, I do not really want to talk about it, but you asked for it, so I have to answer it." We do not look at it as a Team, we look at the positive aspects.But these are things that I have to address and assure.There is a reason that there are 10 yards in melee, I watched TJ Perenara when he hit the ball, they are already five meters away, it can not be, they have to be 10 until the ball is out, these are the little things we are going to tackle. "

Lions arrive in New Zealand Tuesday night. They will name their team on Thursday for Saturday's final

The send-off is at 9:35 am SA time

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