Irish plead discipline innocence

IRELAND enter tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with Scotland insisting they do not have a problem with discipline, and having been backed by rugby’s refereeing chief.

Declan Kidney’s side, which will bid to get back on a winning track at Murrayfield tomorrow following a 25-22 defeat to France in Dublin two weeks ago, have fallen foul of Six Nations referees at the breakdown in their opening two matches.

Worried about gaining a reputation for ill-discipline in this area that may influence tomorrow’s referee, Nigel Owens of Wales, the Irish team management yesterday moved to put the issue into perspective.

Both defence coach Les Kiss and team manager Paul McNaughton referenced a meeting with International Rugby Board referees’ manager Paddy O’Brien following the France game at which they say it was acknowledged by the IRB that some penalties in both championship games to date were wrongly awarded against Ireland.

“Your breakdown is always a contentious area,” Kiss said. “I don’t think there has been a huge increase in penalties but there are some things we can take better control of without a doubt. Once you’re off your feet in this game you’ve got to be more careful.

“We want to have a smarter approach to the back end of tackle situations. There is a process in place, we’ve communicated with Paddy O’Brien and it’s been accepted there were probably some harsh calls against us at times.

“We don’t have a discipline problem. We’re not a negative team. We’re a team that wants to be very strong at the tackle by staying strong on our feet and forcing the issue in that area, legally.”

McNaughton added that he was confident the Irish camp was fully aware of what both the IRB’s O’Brien and referee Owens would be looking for in Edinburgh tomorrow.

“We understand what they want,” McNaughton said. “We do engage in the process after every game and talk to Paddy O’Brien. There are two areas of penalties, ones you can control yourself, and penalties that were penalties. Les and the coaches work on this after every game. (Irish referee) Alain Rolland was in (advising the Irish squad), and that was part of working on it.”

Pressed for a number of penalties that were acknowledged by the IRB as mistakenly awarded to opponents, McNaughton added: “Well, there were several for the Italian game, and there were at least two, if not three, for the French game. We’re not making excuses for defeat, but there are a couple of crucial calls.”