O’Connell and Poite: the freeze deepens

THE relationship between Ireland’s Paul O’Connell and French referee, Roman Poite (pictured), shows no signs of thawing any time soon.

The Ireland lock was having an eye injury attended to during the game against Italy when Poite remonstrated with him, suggesting the Munster captain may have been playing for time on the deck.

Moments after as O’Connell walked off the pitch, he expressed his displeasure in frank terms which could easily be lip-read, as TV viewers can attest.

The two men also clashed at the recent Munster-Northampton clash in Thomond Park, the final fixture in the pool stages of the Heineken Cup, when the French referee sin-binned O’Connell as the home side defended their line.

French referees often respond poorly to questioning about their decisions from captains in comparison with officials from other countries, who seem more willing to engage in dialogue with team captains.