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Andy Friend's verdict on contentious Jamison Gibson-Park call

By PA
Jamison Gibson-Park is yellow carded /PA

Leinster scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park’s avoidance of a red card was the major talking point after his side’s 26-21 Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 first-leg win over Connacht at the Sportsground.

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The home crowd made their views known when an upright Gibson-Park made contact with Kieran Marmion’s face, leaving him with a bloody nose from a 56th-minute tackle.

After a lengthy TMO review, the Leinster replacement was sin-binned by referee Karl Dickson, while Connacht head coach Andy Friend felt the match officials got the colour of the card right.

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“I thought it was a yellow,” he said afterwards. “I think there’s so much conjecture around these things at the moment.

“To me, there was one angle that made it look not good. There were two other angles where you thought there was not much more he can do.

“Now, he definitely hit shoulder on face but I reckon we’ve got to be careful there’s a game. I didn’t think there was any intent.

“There was a second defender in there so you can understand a player, Kieran, falling. I was OK with it, to be honest. I thought the right decision was made.”

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The westerners leaked two quick-fire first-half tries to James Lowe and a Hugo Keenan effort had Leinster leading 23-14. However, Leva Fifita crossed during Gibson-Park’s sin-binning and the visitors needed a late Ross Byrne penalty to secure the victory.

Friend, who watched John Porch light up the game with a second-minute try, added: “We are five points behind now but we can take a lot out of that performance.

“There were some really good bits in it and hopefully we can go to the Aviva and be better again.”

Meanwhile, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen believes his side are five points up at half-time as they look to kill off Connacht’s challenge in next Friday’s second leg at the Aviva Stadium.

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“Connacht stretched us right from the first passage of play, obviously got in for a try,” he said. “Our guys battled their way back into the game and it was different bits of control in the second half.

“We had some opportunities that we didn’t quite take towards the end, which would have given us a slightly bigger lead.

“We knew it was going to be a very, very tough challenge down here. That’s exactly what we got from Connacht.”

With a dose of home comforts to come for the four-time champions, he added: “What’s made this competition over a long period of time is the crowds and the occasions.

“We’re back in the Aviva and the players really enjoy playing at the Aviva. We’ll have that energy and connection with the crowd, that’s so important for us.”

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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