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Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

Ref alert - Clive Woodward says Frenchman will help whistle up Lions series win over All Blacks

NZ Herald
3 Jul, 2017 07:14 PM3 mins to read

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Romain Poite - has yet to referee an All Blacks loss but Clive Woodward reckons he is a plus for the Lions. Photo / Photosport

Romain Poite - has yet to referee an All Blacks loss but Clive Woodward reckons he is a plus for the Lions. Photo / Photosport

Third test referee Romain Poite gives the Lions a "big advantage" in the Eden Park series decider according to Clive Woodward.

Writing for the Daily Mail, Woodward said the Lions must reduce their penalty count or lose the series.

But the tourists have already got a head start thanks to the presence of Poite according to Woodward, the former Lions and World Cup winning England coach.

The All Blacks have won all nine tests under the Frenchman, who also got it badly wrong with a yellow card which led to Springbok strongman Bismarck du Plessis being sent off off at Eden Park in 2013.

But the Lions' familiarity with the northern hemisphere whistler was the important factor on Saturday, Woodward said.

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Woodward wrote: "The Lions have a big advantage here. Jerome Garces was the referee on Saturday and his fellow Frenchman Romain Poite will take charge this week in Auckland.

"They are two of the world's best referees and the Lions should know their modus operandi by now and must make this advantage work for them."

Woodward also advised Warren Gatland to put up a warning poster and run a court sesson after his players conceded 13 second test penalties, 10 enabling shots at goal.

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"That is the stuff of nightmares for a coach and could easily have cost the match and the series," Woodward reckoned.

"...now isn't the time for complacency. Happily the players seemed to realise that and in the post-match interviews scarcely acknowledged the win.

"But how to stop the penalties without dousing the fire and fury?

"I would sit everybody down in Queenstown and ask my video analyst to take us through every penalty conceded. Look at every incident from every angle.

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"Then I would ask the offender, in front of his colleagues, to explain his actions and take us through his thought processes.

"A few will have been genuinely unlucky and occasionally a player will concede three points rather than risk the possibility of seven. You can rationalise those penalties but the majority are down to unintelligent thinking under pressure.

"I would get a big poster displayed in the team room: 'How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered as a Lion who wins a series in New Zealand or do you want to be on the plane home knowing you gave away one stupid penalty that cost everyone the chance of creating history.'

"...the penalty count is now fundamental to the deciding test."

The main Lions offender at Westpac Stadium was prop Mako Vunipola, who conceded four penalties and was sin binned for a hit on a prone Beauden Barrett, an act many believed deserved a red card."

Woodward still wants Vunipola to start the game, the big man vital to quelling a furious All Black onslaught.

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