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Wellington - International Rugby Board referees chief Paddy O'Brien has apologised to the All Blacks over Australian referee Stuart Dickinson's handling of Saturday's Test against Italy in Milan, New Zealand media reported on Wednesday.
New Zealander O'Brien told the All Blacks in London he had spoken to Dickinson over his handling of scrums in the All Blacks' 20-6 win at the San Siro Stadium, Fairfax newspapers in New Zealand reported on Wednesday.
Dickinson awarded Italy a series of scrum penalties in the final minutes of Saturday's match, leading Italy's South African coach Nick Mallett to say his side should have been given a penalty try. O'Brien said it was the Italians, not the All Blacks who were infringing, the New Zealand newspapers reported.
"The best example I can use is in the last 10 minutes there were eight scrums of which (at) seven, the tighthead for Italy is purely illegal," O'Brien was quoted saying. "Up here they're crying that it should have been a penalty try. It should have been a penalty first scrum to the All Blacks."
O'Brien said Dickinson had been told to watch a video of the match, would receive coaching on scrums and had been told to lift his game or miss out on future appointments.
"We've got to be fair to teams. If the referee is not accurate we've got to put our hand up. We need to educate that referee and get him better because that scrummaging on Saturday was not up to international standard," he said.
Dickinson has been handed the whistle in the Portugal v Argentina Jaguars friendly this weekend, a far cry from the world of Test rugby.
