Woodward censure expected

England coach Clive Woodward is expected to be censured by the International Rugby Board for criticising match officials after the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday sent the governing body a videotape of last Saturday night’s media conference in Auckland.

After England’s second Test loss to the All Blacks, Woodward was highly critical of the decision of Welsh referee Nigel Williams, on the advice of Australian touch judge Stuart Dickinson, to send off second-rower Simon Shaw in the 11th minute for kneeing All Blacks forward Keith Robinson.

Woodward, now in Brisbane preparing for tomorrow night’s one-off Test against Australia at Suncorp Stadium, described the referee’s decision at the Auckland media conference as “a ridiculous call”.

He believed the match officials had overreacted and been influenced by the crowd, who had started calling for Shaw to be sent-off after seeing a replay of the incident on the ground’s electronic scoreboard.

The media conference was broadcast live throughout New Zealand, on the pay television Rugby Channel. NZRU officials yesterday confirmed a videotape had been sent by courier to the IRB in Dublin.