Blues baffled by Bloem penalty

Editor

Blues skipper Jerome Kaino struggled to hide his disappointment after his team's narrow loss to the Cheetahs in controversial circumstances on Friday.

The Cheetahs claimed a 25-24 win in Bloemfontein thanks to a contentious late penalty, ruining Kaino 100th match for the  Blues.

Holding a two-point lead with timing running out, the Blues looked to use the much-discussed tactic of not contesting a the  lineout drive, which worked effectively against the Stormers a week earlier.

But Australian referee Rohan Hoffman penalised the Blues for stepping away from the lineout, allowing Joe Pietersen send over the match-winning penalty
 
 "That penalty cost us the game," said Kaino.
 
 "From my understanding we opened the gate, they drove through, and [the referee] said we were stepping back. But the person he said was stepping back was our halfback. I was a bit confused as to the interpretation. But the ref ruled on it and we can't argue that."
 
Blues coach John Kirwan echoed his captain's thoughts.

 "We know the ruling, we've been practicing it," said Kirwan.
 
 "We did exactly the same last week and picked up three penalties. The boys are a little bewildered by it, but we have to accept the referee saw something different and move on.
 
 "Nothing is going our way, but I believe we can turn it round," added Kirwan after his team's third-straight loss.
 
 "This has been hard to cop, but the team's strong, we're going well, we're training well, now we just need to turn those into victories."