The Australian Rugby Union has complained to the International Rugby Board about criticism of one its referees by the IRB's referee manager, Paddy O'Brien. Skip related content
O'Brien was quoted in media reports this week criticising Australian referee Stuart Dickinson for erroneously penalising the All Blacks in the scrum during their 20-6 win over Italy in Milan Saturday.
O'Brien also visited the touring All Blacks' hotel in London to apologise for the referee's performance, British media reported.
"ARU wishes to express its considerable surprise at these developments," the governing body said in a statement on Friday.
"We expect to see this transparent approach adopted on a consistent basis for all elite referees in the future.
"Also, the ARU thinks that the criticism of Dickinson, the leading referee in Australia for a number of years, was lacking in balance."
The ARU said it would be happy to discuss the findings of its own analysis with O'Brien.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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