It’s certainly frustrating that we’re seeing some issues in the game that are affecting our outcomes”.
Fijian Drua coach Glen Jackson expressed his frustrations on their recent loss to the Brumbies regarding some crucial officiating calls.
Jackson, who is also a former referee, retired from the whistle in 2020.
Drua lost to the Brumbies 38-21 in their second meeting of the season.
Speaking to the media at the post match press conference, Jackson pointed out some key moments where he thought the decisions made by officials impacted their momentum in the game.
A key moment was when a try by hooker Tevita Ikanivere was disallowed after it had originally been awarded by referee Jordan Way.
Although the TMO had alerted Way to change his decision and rule it as a knock on, both the TMO and referee failed to also call on earlier penalties by the Brumbies that led up to Tevita crossing the line.
Jackson also pointed out other two key calls that were questionable from the officials.
“A few weeks ago, we lost a game because of a collapsed maul near the try line. This time, we had the same situation, but it was just a penalty, not a yellow card.” Jackson said
“If there’s a chip-and-chase and the last defender sticks his shoulder out, if it’s a penalty, it should be a yellow card,” Jackson told the media after the game.
Captain Frank Lomani also shared his frustration on the disallowed try to Tevita.
“We come in to win games, and those calls change momentum,” he told reporters.
“I think we had them in the first 15 minutes. We were building that momentum. I think that call changed the momentum where we were playing on top of them. That call, just gave them back the ball and they just put it down the paddock and then we were just struggling from there.”
This weekend, the Drua move on to Perth for their next clash against the Western Force.
And although it is a new week, Jackson believes that speaking up on these matters can be positive, but also puts their team in a sticky place.
For now, they move on to their next task with the Force and trust whatever process is set up for the issues they face.
“Well we can’t really do that, it’s part of the process we were given. We brought up that we weren’t happy about it and that’s all we can do”
“You can imagine that we are frustrated with things that have been going on. Again we don’t want to get into sort of any other trouble as a union or as a club.”
“But it’s certainly frustrating that we’re seeing some issues in the game that are affecting our outcomes.”
