Yomiuri: Referee the villain as Waseda edges Oxford
If the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office is looking for some new recruits for its diplomatic corps, it could do a lot worse than take on the 22 rugby players who represented Oxford University in Sunday's 22-20 loss to Waseda University at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya Stadium. The restraint shown in the face of a totally inadequate performance by referee Masahiro Sakuraoka and opponents intent on bending the laws was a credit to their university. "The language barrier is always going to make it difficult," said Oxford captain Kevin Brennan, "I thought the referee tried his best but there is always going to be debate on certain issues"..."This is my seventh trip here," said Oxford coach Steve Hill. "The level of rugby has improved greatly. But the officiating still needs to be improved. It was very difficult at times to understand what he wanted."
The official penalty count was 19 against Oxford to 10 against Waseda. But what it won't show is the number of times Oxford was penalized in the final 12 minutes as it tried to defend a 20-19 lead. Every time there seemed to be a contact situation close to the line, Sakuraoka blew his whistle in favor of Waseda. Oxford prop Oliver Tomaszczyk was sent to the sin bin in the 71st minute, and still Oxford held out. But with two minutes of normal time remaining, Oxford was again penalized and Ayumu Goromaru slotted over the simple penalty to deny the visitors a famous victory..."We will take a look at the tape of the game and review it," said Hill. "But I think everyone involved in the game should also look at the tape. It is the only way to learn."
I'm not sure how long writer Rich Freeman expects to hold down his job at the Yomiuri if he continues in this vein.
Typical rugby tour diary here.
