FIJI HEAD COACH Mick Byrne felt Sam Prendergast was lucky not be red carded for his early tackle on Kitione Salawa at the Aviva Stadium.
A tucked arm hit saw Prendergast yellow-carded by referee Hollie Davidson in the eighth minute of a 52-17 win for Ireland. The tackle was reviewed by the TMO bunker Andrew McMenemy, who did not upgrade the card to a red, concluding there was “not a high degree of danger.”
Speaking after the game the Fiji boss was clearly unhappy with the decision, without elaborating on that frustration.
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“I think he was wearing a green jersey so it stayed yellow,” said Byrne, who then admitted Fiji’s own discipline proved costly as they conceded 17 penalties in Dublin.
“They’re probably on us, they’re definitely on us. We sometimes with our enthusiasm to get the job done, especially early on, we came in from the side of the ruck a couple of times to try and put pressure on.
“But, at the end of the day, it’s on us, we need to get better and it’s not on the referee. But the 50-50s, that last try, if you have another look at it, the green jersey holding on to the white jersey, nothing happens at TMO – I’m sure if it was the other way around, we might not have got that try allowed. But that’s our job. Our job is to present ourselves over the next two years so we earn the respect of World Rugby and we have to play a little bit better than we did today to get there.
“Ireland are a good side, they’re well drilled,” Byrne added, highlighting Jiuta Wainiqolo’s close call in the first half as a potential turning point. The Fiji wing was inches away from a try while Prendergast was in the sin-bin.
“They had the right numbers at the right part of the field and we probably let a couple of tries in. I thought early on we were in the game and I would have liked that try. They talk about game of inches and I would have liked that try early on in the game to go across, we set that up and executed it well, so it’s just one of those things.”
Fiji’s Waisea Nayacalevu admitted to being frustrated with some elements of the officiating.
“We got out there and gave our best. We train all week to be disciplined, to play the game the way we want to play and at the end of the day, the match officials make the calls.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, which is frustrating. At the moment, it’s happening, and if we can have that fair play call, then we can play more entertaining rugby and we get more momentum as well going into our games, playing how we want to play.”
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'He was wearing a green jersey so it stayed yellow' - Fiji unhappy with Prendergast tackle
FIJI HEAD COACH Mick Byrne felt Sam Prendergast was lucky not be red carded for his early tackle on Kitione Salawa at the Aviva Stadium.
A tucked arm hit saw Prendergast yellow-carded by referee Hollie Davidson in the eighth minute of a 52-17 win for Ireland. The tackle was reviewed by the TMO bunker Andrew McMenemy, who did not upgrade the card to a red, concluding there was “not a high degree of danger.”
Speaking after the game the Fiji boss was clearly unhappy with the decision, without elaborating on that frustration.
“I think he was wearing a green jersey so it stayed yellow,” said Byrne, who then admitted Fiji’s own discipline proved costly as they conceded 17 penalties in Dublin.
“They’re probably on us, they’re definitely on us. We sometimes with our enthusiasm to get the job done, especially early on, we came in from the side of the ruck a couple of times to try and put pressure on.
“But, at the end of the day, it’s on us, we need to get better and it’s not on the referee. But the 50-50s, that last try, if you have another look at it, the green jersey holding on to the white jersey, nothing happens at TMO – I’m sure if it was the other way around, we might not have got that try allowed. But that’s our job. Our job is to present ourselves over the next two years so we earn the respect of World Rugby and we have to play a little bit better than we did today to get there.
“Ireland are a good side, they’re well drilled,” Byrne added, highlighting Jiuta Wainiqolo’s close call in the first half as a potential turning point. The Fiji wing was inches away from a try while Prendergast was in the sin-bin.
“They had the right numbers at the right part of the field and we probably let a couple of tries in. I thought early on we were in the game and I would have liked that try. They talk about game of inches and I would have liked that try early on in the game to go across, we set that up and executed it well, so it’s just one of those things.”
Fiji’s Waisea Nayacalevu admitted to being frustrated with some elements of the officiating.
“We got out there and gave our best. We train all week to be disciplined, to play the game the way we want to play and at the end of the day, the match officials make the calls.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, which is frustrating. At the moment, it’s happening, and if we can have that fair play call, then we can play more entertaining rugby and we get more momentum as well going into our games, playing how we want to play.”
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