Ref erred in not allowing Wallaby sub - IRB

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) –

Irish referee Alain Rolland, pictured in 2007, erred in not allowing Australia to make a late substitution against South Africa in a Rugby Championship match last Saturday, the International Rugby Board said Wednesday.

Irish referee Alain Rolland erred in not allowing Australia to make a late substitution against South Africa in a Rugby Championship match last Saturday, the International Rugby Board said Wednesday.

The Wallabies were forced to play the closing stages at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria a man short, although it did not effect the result as the Springboks had all but sewn up a 31-8 victory.

A Board statement said that according to Law 3.12 (exception 2) Australia reserve hooker Saia Fainga’a should have been permitted to replace injured hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau.

Loftus touchline microphones picked up Rolland – an experienced referee who refereed the 2007 World Cup final – telling the Australians that they could not make any more substitutions as they had already used the usual maximum of seven.

IRB match official selection committee chairman John Jeffrey said: “The area of substitution management is a team effort. This was an unfortunate case of human error by the match officials who accept that they made a mistake.”

Rolland, who will also referee the match between South Africa and New Zealand in Soweto this Saturday, was assisted in Pretoria by Greg Garner of England and Romain Poite of France with South African Shaun Veldsman the TMO.

Rolland provoked a fierce debate at last year’s World Cup when he sent Wales captain Sam Warburton off early in the game for a spear tackle on Vincent Clerc – some criticised him for destroying the game as a spectacle while others said he was right to do so under the strict rules governing such tackles.