Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa: Hurricanes coach Jason Holland unhappy with penalty call in loss to Blues

Hurricanes coach Jason Holland has emphasized the importance of umpires getting the big decisions right after his team’s Super Rugby Aotearoa loss to the Blues in Auckland on Saturday.

The Hurricanes spent 20 minutes of the 27-17 loss with a light man, after forwards Du’Plessis Kirifi and Ardie Savea received yellow cards in the 17th and 31st minutes.

While Holland had no problem with the decision on Kirifi’s infringement, a sloppy cleaning that saw him take out Blues No. 10 Otere Black and make contact with Black’s head, it wasn’t all that pleasant when it came to Savea.

Savea was not only sent to the sin bin, but also conceded a penalty try when the Blues maul was deemed to have collapsed near the try line.

“They just have to make sure they get those greats right, right? Seven points from a penalty try and a no-bin … you can’t play 14 and create tempo and things like that,” Holland said. .

“When there are big calls like that, they have to be successful.”

Savea added: “I thought I was just preventing Ofa from scoring the try, but at the end of the day it’s the referee’s decision and when they make the call you can’t argue, well I tried.”

When asked if he thought the decision was the right one, Holland replied, “No, I don’t think so. It was difficult, but you get them. You get them both ways, unfortunately they are big changes to the game.” . “

Just as they did last weekend when mainstay Tyrel Lomax was sent off for sin against the Highlanders, the Hurricanes achieved both stints in which they were down to 14 men well against the Blues. In those 20 combined minutes, the Blues only added three points to the penalty attempt via a penalty goal late in the first half.

However, they were unable to make the most of their own opportunities throughout the game and the Blues stormed home to win by a flattering 10-point margin.

“We felt like we were on top of them in the first half,” Savea said. “We had a lot of possession and we just couldn’t get that last pass or last moment done. It was probably due to individual mistakes.”