SA coach blames referee for loss

South African rugby union coach Rudolf Straeuli blamed Australian referee Stuart Dickinson for the 41-20 loss to New Zealand in the Tri-Nations.

Straeuli was also upset with several decisions made by touch judges Steve Lander of England and Wayne Erickson of Australia.

He said the decision to rule a forward pass when flanker Joe van Niekerk broke clear and not penalise the All Blacks for not throwing the ball five metres for Mark Hammett's try cost his team.

No. 8 Scott Robertson took the ball inside the five-metre line before putting Hammett through, the coach said.

"In life you are going to get marginal decisions and we got a couple of them," he said.

"I didn't think that Joe's pass was forward and to us it didn't look as if the ball went five meters when the try was scored by the hooker."

Straeuli said while Erickson contributed to the sinbinning of his midfield back Marius Joubert, Lander didn't do anything about Hammett's try, even though the throw was taken right in front of him.

"The scoreline wasn't a true reflection of the match but we have to go back and work hard and build from here," he said.

But Straeuli was also honest enough to admit his side need to tidy up their game.

"If you make the errors we did, you will be punished - that's what comes with youth. If you kick badly and give them two soft tries you can't expect to win."