Kidney to meet with IRB ref boss for scrum clarification

DECLAN KIDNEY will seek further clarification from International Rugby Board referees’ manager Paddy O’Brien following a day of frustration in Rome at the whistle of French referee Romain Poite.

The Ireland coach saw his front row penalised several times at scrum-time during Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy.

The game was Ireland’s first since all Six Nations head coaches backed an IRB initiative to address its concern at the increase in collapsed scrums and resets and slower scrum completion times that have plagued the game since the introduction of new interpretations of the scrum laws.