Connacht coach Pat Lam is to complain to the Pro 12 independent referee commissioner Ed Morrison on the calls of touch judge Leighton Hodges in last evening's defeat to Cardiff Blues.
Lam said Hodges’ call deep in injury time cost Connacht the game when it appeared the Irish province had survived a late onslaught, secured possession at the breakdown, and kicked the ball dead.
“It is the biggest call and I am absolutely gutted,” Lam says.”There is a changing room there that deserved more,” he said.
Showing video footage of the last minutes of play at Arms Park last evening, Lam said: “The ball comes back, its 83.27 minutes into the game, Cardiff knock the ball on, there is no ruck, our hooker picks the ball up, it is cleared the ref is just about to blow and then Leighton Hodges, the touch judge, says it’s hands in the ruck.
“A, clearly no ruck, B, clearly he knocked the ball on, and the referee is one metre away to call that.”
“That is a massive call and it [the game] should be over and finished. I will go through the process now, but it was the wrong call and it cost us the game.”
Lam, who spoke with referee Scotland's Lloyd Linton immediately after the game, says Hodges was also the subject of another complaint to Morrison following a comment the Welsh referee made prior to his refereeing the Connacht v Edinburgh fixture the Galway Sportsground.
Lam said: “When we had the Edinburgh game, I went through the processes there that he made a comment before the game.
“He was late. Our stewards told him where he had to park and he made a comment ‘that’s going to cost your team seven points at least’.
“He made that to our stewards who made a complaint and I made a complaint to Ed Morrisson (Head of Elite Refereeing) about that because it’s out of order
“It’s the equivalent of calling a bomb at an airport even if it’s in jest. They (rugby authorities) agreed that it wasn’t on. Again that’s factual. This is the next game we have now got Leighton. As you can see based on facts it is an extremely wrong call. It cost us the game.
“I complained to Ed Morrison and we went through the process, and now this is the next game, and where we are in the context of the season, it is extremely disappointing.
“Officials need to be accountable and I have full faith in Ed Morrison and I will follow it up, but we are talking livelihoods here. The disappointing things is he is refereeing the game with Munster and in the context of what he said in the Edinburgh game, and the performance on the back of that comment, then to have him make a call like that which is clearly wrong and cost us the game this evening, Connacht rugby will be looking for answers and we have serious question marks over the calls.”
