Richard Cockerill has launched an incredible attack on referees following the Scarlets’ defeat of Edinburgh.
The former Leicester coach – whose team lost 28-8 at Parc Y Scarlets at the weekend – could be in hot water with Guinness Pro14 chiefs after suggesting there is a conspiracy against the Scots.
Cockerill was angered by decisions made by referee John Lacey, but went further and claimed there is a widespread bias against Edinburgh, who are “supposed to lose”.
With integrity issues such a key commitment for all sports in the fight against match-fixing, the controversial former England hooker could find himself the subject of disciplinary action.
Wales’ Chris Morgan was the citing commissioner at the game and has the power to include post-match remarks in his report.
Cockerill was angry that the official did not take advantage of television replays to check what he felt were two wrongly awarded tries.
He said: “I don’t know why the referee didn’t go to the TMO because we were live on television. Unfortunately, because it’s Edinburgh, it doesn’t get checked.
“I also thought the third try was a forward pass by a mile and the players are saying the player is in touch when he passes it.
“I just want us to be treated fairly. We are supposed to lose and that is how I felt we were refereed. That is disappointing because John Lacey is an international referee and I expect him to referee better than that.
“I want Edinburgh to be refereed fairly and I didn’t think we were refereed fairly.”
Asked if that was the perception from others about how the side have been refereed in the past, Cockerill added:
“It was mentioned to me by the players, coming into the season, and I thought you saw that.
“The players asked him to look at the second try on the TMO and he refused. Watch it, it was crossing. That’s a big call because we would have been 8-7 up at half-time. And if you scratch those two tries out, we get a bonus point.”
Cockerill added: “I have no problem with the result because Scarlets were the better side. But I thought our effort, endeavour and mentality deserved more out of the game.”
