Laporte in hot water after confronting referee Dickinson

FRENCH coach Bernard Laporte is in hot water after threatening to withdraw his team from any game refereed by Stuart Dickinson.

Referee Dickinson yesterday admitted he will complain to IRB chiefs after an incident following New Zealand’s 42-11 first Test win over France.

The incident occurred in the foyer of a Wellington hotel on the eve of Saturday’s second Test between France and the All Blacks — a match the hosts won 61-10.

New Zealand reports claim that Laporte was furious with the way Australian Dickinson had refereed the first Test and confronted him with video footage of the match on a laptop.

Laporte is quoted as saying: “You do this tomorrow and you will be finished.

“If you are appointed to any French games at the World Cup, the French team will not turn up.”

Dickinson has reported the incident to Australian Rugby Union referees’ boss Peter Marshall who, in turn, is set to contact the IRB’s head of referees, Paddy O’Brien, about the confrontation.

Marshall said: “It is disappointing. There are more appropriate channels to go through if coaches feel they haven’t been fairly treated.

“Stuart just told me what happened. He was very calm about it — he’s had plenty of mud thrown at him before.”

However, O’Brien is set to wait to hear from Dickinson before deciding what action, if any, to take.

“If the meeting was out of hand, I will hear from Stuart Dickinson. If there was a breach or Stu felt intimidated, I expect to hear from him. We will not have coaches telling us who will referee games.”