Ref Pollock no problem for Kidney

There have been no emails this week to the respective coaches but Ireland coach Declan Kidney is confident his players can get on the same page as RBS 6 Nations debutant referee Chris Pollock at Aviva Stadium today.

New Zealander Pollock, a reserve official at last year’s Rugby World Cup in his native land, is a regular Super 15 referee who took the unusual step of emailing rival coaches Pat Lam and Todd Blackadder ahead of last month’s opener between the Blues and Crusaders at Eden Park, Auckland.

His message to them outlined his views on how he would control the match, particularly at the scrum and breakdown.

Kidney said yesterday that he had not been contacted but expected to introduce himself later in the day to Pollock, who took charge of last weekend’s Ulster Bank League game between Shannon and Garryowen at Thomond Park.

English ref Dave Pearson’s handling of the breakdown last week saw a penalty count stacked heavily against his team in Ireland’s 17-17 draw with France, but Kidney said he did not foresee any problems with a southern hemisphere official.

“We’re told that there’s no difference in the referees. That’s what we’re told — that there’s no difference now between northern and southern hemisphere referees,” the Ireland head coach said. “We had (South African) Craig Joubert three weeks ago (against Italy) and that was okay.”

Ireland defence coach Les Kiss has done his homework on Pollock and said the Ireland players knew what the New Zealander was looking for in the contentious areas.

“He likes a contact at the breakdown and likes quick ball after the ball has gone to deck,” Kiss said. “Most referees are trying to do that these days. Scotland will flash the message that they want quick ball as much as possible, but if quick ball comes, we’re happy with that too.”