Give Gregan a break, refs told

SYDNEY - Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill has asked New Zealand and South African test referees not to prejudge Wallabies captain George Gregan when he asks them to justify their decisions at the Rugby World Cup.

Gregan was at times told to go away by referees Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand) and Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa) when he questioned their decisions during Australia's most recent matches in the Tri-Nations series.

Audio recordings of the referees' curt dismissals of Gregan have aired prominently on Australian television this week, perhaps as growing anxiety grips the country that their defence of the William Webb Ellis Trophy could be undermined by such actions.

O'Neill yesterday asked that referees not treat Gregan differently from other test captains.

"Perhaps at times South African and New Zealand referees who see a lot of George at Super 12 level may prejudge him," O'Neill said.

"But we all need to be reminded that a test match is a test match and whatever a captain's behaviour might be at Super 12 level ... so often a captain becomes more statesmanlike at test level.

"I urge all referees not to prejudge George before he's opened his mouth. He is as entitled as any captain to ask a reasonable question."

But O'Neill said the ARU would not raise the matter officially with the International Rugby Board.

What is understood to be testing referees' patience is Gregan's frequent pleading for yellow cards to be issued against teams who commit professional fouls when Australia are close to scoring.

The trend is for players to be sin-binned only when their team has committed at least three professional fouls, but O'Neill said yesterday that they should be sterner.

" ... I'm not convinced three chances are warranted.

"What that means is that you've missed out on scoring two tries."

- NZPA