Both camps blame each other

Press, 1 November 1982, Page 48

Both camps blame each other

NZPA Swansea The New Zealand Maoris and Swansea camps chose to heap the blame on each other yesterday in the aftermath of the sending off of the props, Paul Koteka and Gareth ,John. The Maori captain, Paul Quinn, said that the outbreak of violent fighting which preceded the ordering-offs by the English referee, Mr Peter Robertson, had been sparked by John, the Swansea tighthead prop, pulling Koteka down illegally. “Film will show that the Swansea player had a bent elbow and was therefore dragging Paul down illegally,” he said. The Swansea version of events, delivered by its coach, Mr lan Hall, was that the Maori loosehead was being outscrummaged by John and had reacted by grabbing the Welshman by the throat. John had retaliated. Mr Hall said it had been the Maoris’ approach to rugby which had led to the demise of Koteka and John and an earlier forward brawl which had lasted almost 25 seconds.

“They (the Maoris) try to impose their physical authority on the opposition from the start and it you look at their three games in Wales, there have been fights in the first 15 minutes of each. “We are not renowned as a physical side but we were not going to allow ourselves to be intimidated,” he said. Quinn reacted sharply to

Mr Hall’s accusations and said he was disappointed by his attitude.

“If you look at the fighting in our three games, you must analyse each of the incidents. Against Cardiff and Maesteg, the trouble was because their forwards objected to our perfectly legal rucking. “We were warned for stepping early in the Cardiff game but later on and at Maesteg, there were no penalties against us for socalled indiscriminate use of the boot.

“Here, there was no such problem with rucks because they were prepared to ruck and not lie across the ball. “You can’t relate the incidents, and for anyone to say they think we are here to scrap is disappointing,” he said.

Mr Hall said he had little quarrel with the referee for his action in sending off the two players but believed that Mr Robertson should have been stronger earlier. Quinn confirmed that the Englishman had given no final warning after the first brawl in which the two props had also been the focal point and into which the Swansea flanker, Gareth Roberts, had flailed like a madman. “Things happen very quickly and the referee made the decision in line with his view that it was the only way he could get the players to play the game,” he said.

Mr Robertson was a late replacement for the injured Scottish referee, Mr Jake Short.