Johann van Graan hints at dodgy French TV antics after ‘three headshots’ go unpunished in Champions Cup defeat
Bath back-row Alfie Barbeary cops a high tackle for a UBB opponent (inset) and the PREM Rugby outfit's head of rugby Johann van Graan.
Bath boss Johann van Graan has taken aim at the French TV directors after three dangerous tackles went unpunished in the Investec Champions Cup semi-final on Sunday.
The PREM Rugby club fell to a 38-26 defeat to the defending champions Union Bordeaux Begles at the Stade Atlantique Bordeaux Métropole, with the French side now set to face Leinster in Bilbao in the final.
While Van Graan states that the better side won on the day, the South African coach was clearly irked by the lack of consistency around the availability of additional angles supplied to the TMO.
French TV directors in the spotlight once again
It has long been a criticism of the French broadcasters, who have been accused of not having the right angles for incriminating incidents against French teams, but make several replays available to the fourth official when it favours the home team.
The Bath boss implied that was the case on Sunday as well, with number eight Alfie Barbeary copping three head-high shots that went unpunished.
Van Graan was not alone as Premier Sports commentator and former England fly-half Andy Goode said: “It’s becoming a bit of a joke with French [TV] directors.
“[Johann] didn’t mention it [but] some of the refereeing calls, without the TMO coming in, some of the high shots that were missed because of TV directors, it’s just not good enough.
“I’m getting messages galore going ‘Why aren’t you showing these replays?’ French TV directors, it’s not us that are choosing the replays. It’s the French guys.”
Bath boss refuses to blame the match officials
Similarly, Van Graan did not blame the officials for the non-punishment of the dangerous tackles but rued the lack of consistency from the broadcasters and TV directors.
“The match officials did a fantastic job,” he told reporters during the post-match press conference. “However, there were three, what we believe, headshots on Alfie [Barbeary] in the 19th, 23rd, and 42nd minute.
“All that we as coaches, players, lovers of the game ask is that there’s consistency right through every single game, that match officials have the opportunity to review footage, and we as a group are very aligned that match officials are so important. I want to reiterate that I thought Nika [Amashukeli] did a fantastic job, and I thought Ben [Whitehouse], the TMO, did the best that he could with the angles available to him.
“However, for such an amazing contest, we need to make sure that they’ve got the footage they need, and I certainly didn’t see the footage come through for three clear head-to-head incidents on our number eight.”
The better team won
Van Graan added that if they were reviewed and the officials felt that they didn’t warrant punishment, he would have been happy with the outcome.
“Let’s say that the referee had the opportunity to review them. Whatever his decision, that’s fine by me,” he continued.
“But we’ve just got to make sure that we as a game become consistent because that was not consistent with the rest of the competition.
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“The most clear and obvious one was on 41 minutes and eight seconds, just under the sticks. But look, I’ve never been a coach, and we’ve never been a team who are looking to put the game in a negative place. The game is in an absolutely fantastic place. It was an absolute privilege for us to be out here today. We got beaten by the better team.
“However, we as a game have to make sure that we become consistent. Certainly, from the footage available to the match officials, it doesn’t seem that way. And I want to reiterate, we’ve got the utmost respect for match officials and I think they did a fantastic job today.”
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