DIRECTOR of rugby Dean Ryan has pleaded with referees to give Worcester Warriors a “clean sheet” as his frustration grows over his side’s increasing penalty count.
London Irish condemned Warriors to a second successive defeat in the Aviva Premiership when Ian Humphreys landed a penalty in the final few minutes at Sixways on Saturday.
It was a tough pill for Ryan to swallow and he was left further aggrieved the following morning when he received a report back from the independent PRL audit system, which looked into the officiating of the game.
The Warriors boss said it revealed referee Tim Wigglesworth had missed nine incidents which should have seen London Irish penalised, including two yellow card offences.
Ryan admitted he was baffled by the numbers and he believes his side are “carrying baggage” from previous seasons, which he said he was determined to challenge.
“We felt we were harshly done by in a half an hour window at Leicester and that audit proved that as seven penalties against us did not warrant penalising,” Ryan said.
“At the weekend, we had nine omissions of penalties and three reversals of which an independent person said should have happened. Two of those omissions were yellow cards.
“We have now asked for clarity. I understand the referee department is going through a state of flux at the moment as they have lost Ed Morrison and there is now an independent PRL audit.
“But to have that much disparity from somebody who isn’t involved emotionally means that we are not getting a clean sheet. We are carrying baggage from previous experiences. We are contributing to it, but we are carrying baggage, so we are asking for a clean sheet.”
Ryan added: “I am not sitting here and carrying on from what Warriors were in the past and I am not going to sit here quietly and let the big guns come to town, who are expected to win and get the decisions. That’s not what the laws of the game say.
“The laws of the game says it is an even playing field. If we get that and we get our elements right then we can get in the mix with some of these sides.
“We deserve a clean sheet every single game and we don’t believe we have had that in our first two matches.”
And Ryan will be hoping it starts at Sixways tonight (Friday, 7.45pm) as Warriors take on Harlequins.
Jake Abbott is set to make his first start of the season, while other changes see prop Jeremy Becasseau and lock Dean Schofield recalled for the encounter.
