O’Driscoll slams ‘frustrating’ standard of refereeing

IRISH skipper Brian O’Driscoll has labelled the standard of officiating in the Magners League “frustrating”.

O’Driscoll made his comments after last night’s victory over Edinburgh at the RDS where Irish referee Peter Fitzgibbon was the man in the middle. And he has called for tournament chiefs to take his comments into account ahead of Saturday’s semi-final clash with Munster.

O’Driscoll blasted: “The standard of refereeing in the Magners League really needs to improve; the level of (in)consistency is frustrating. (Tonight) there were a lot of frustrated heads not understanding the interpretations.

“I would like to think that for a game the magnitude of Leinster/Munster next week we should get the best referee whether it be a Nigel Owens, Wayne Barnes or Chris White.

“You’ve got to go with the best referee for the biggest of games.”