Aussie whistle blower Stu Dickinson got it badly wrong when he repeatedly penalised the All Blacks in their disputed match against Italy on Saturday (Sunday NZT), referees' boss Paddy O'Brien has admitted.
Coach Graham Henry asked for clarity and has been given that, along with a public apology, from IRB referees' boss Paddy O'Brien, who has admitted referee Dickinson made a series of mistakes during the Milan match, which ended in a 20-6 win for the All Blacks.
In what is a major off-field victory for the All Blacks, Kiwi O'Brien travelled to the New Zealand team's London hotel today to essentially tell Henry and his coaches "you were right".
O'Brien told Stuff.co.nz, in an exclusive interview prior to his meeting with Henry and scrum expert Mike Cron, that Dickinson should not have taken such drastic action against the All Blacks at scrum time in the test at the San Siro.
In a rare display of transparency, O'Brien has conceded that Dickinson's performance was sub-standard, and that he has been told so in no uncertain terms.
O'Brien said a review of match footage clearly indicated the Italian tighthead prop (Martin Castrogiavanni and later Salvatore Perugini) was "boring in" on the All Black loosehead and that Dickinson's repeated penalising of the New Zealanders was "completely wrong".
"The best example I can use is in the last 10 minutes there were eight scrums of which seven the tighthead for Italy is purely illegal," said the Invercargill-based O'Brien.
"Up here they're crying that it should have been a penalty try. It should have been a penalty first scrum to the All Blacks."
O'Brien's words will at least be reassuring for the New Zealanders ahead of Saturday's test against England.
After the match Henry said the area needed "clarity" and on their arrival in London, assistant coach Steve Hansen said referees were "guessing" on their decisions at the set piece.
Italy coach Nick Mallett complained that the All Blacks got off lightly for their scrum infringements, even though Neemia Tialata was sinbinned late in the match from one of the penalties.
But O'Brien has made it clear that Henry was right and Mallett wrong when it came to their reading of events at the San Siro.
"We've got to be fair to teams," O'Brien said. "If the referee is not accurate we've got to put our hand up. We need to educate that referee and get him better, because that scrummaging on Saturday was not up to international standard."
O'Brien said Dickinson had been given a DVD that makes it clear where he went wrong and a strong message he needs to lift his game. He has been advised to undertake "scrum coaching" and also told his performance will be taken into account for future appointments.
The IRB's referees' boss said Dickinson's rulings had particularly impacted on young All Black loosehead Wyatt Crockett, who complained during and after the match about the Italian infringments.
"You've got a young guy trying to launch his test career and get things right and the referee is inaccurate. Then it's our problem," said O'Brien. "We've got to deal with the ref, which we will, just like Graham deals with a player who is not playing well."
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith said today the team was going about its front-row work "as usual" though he had noted the "publicity" around the scrummaging.
"We're pretty confident in our front row," said Smith. "They had a torrid time at the weekend, and if you look at the tape some of it was difficult to play against. It was a bit dangerous for our loosehead prop a couple of times, but they got away with it."
The All Blacks will introduce an entirely new front row to meet England this weekend, with Owen Franks set to step in for Tialata as tighthead alongside regular frontliners Tony Woodcock and Andrew Hore.
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Tialata has started the first three tests of the tour, and will be given a chance to freshen up a little ahead of the massive contest against France next week.
