Williams claims refs are not giving Scotland ‘fair crack of the whip’

SCOTLAND coach Matt Williams has called on referees to get fair with his side, blaming the loss to Italy on crucial wrong decisions by Welsh whistler Nigel Whitehouse and hinting his side are handled differently because of their lowly status.

Williams claimed hooker Fabio Ongaro's try for the Italians in the 20-14 defeat in the Stadio Flaminio would have been ruled out if Whitehouse had called for the video referee and he also maintained that scrum-half Mike Blair should have been awarded a score in the second-half.

The Australian stopped short of forming a conspiracy theory but admitted he found the unexplained removal of Argentinian official Pablo Deluca from last month's match against England and the subsequent retirement of his replacement for the Calcutta Cup clash, David McHugh, "mysterious".