Young blasts referee's decision

Blues coach Dai Young has hit out at referee Peter Allan after he sent Robin Sowden-Taylor to the sin-bin in their Magners League defeat against Munster on Saturday.

Blues coach Dai Young has hit out at referee Peter Allan after he sent Robin Sowden-Taylor to the sin-bin in their Magners League defeat against Munster on Saturday.

Sowden-Taylor was sent to the sin-bin ten minutes into the second half, at which stage the Blues were 17-7 ahead, for a professional foul. However Young believes the card dished out by the Scottish ref was unjust.

In the time the openside was off the field Munster wrestled control back, scoring two converted tries, and what's more Young feels Sowden-Taylor was of the field for three and a half minutes longer than he should have been.

“The yellow card changed the game and I felt it was a very poor decision,” Young told The Western Mail.

“Sin-binnings are frustrating enough especially when it should have not been given.

“When you look at it on the video it should have been a penalty for us.

“Robin came in through the gate, stayed on his feet and jackaled the ball so it was nowhere near a yellow card.

“The game is tough enough when you are playing the European champions on their own patch with all their big guns playing.

“You can't put yourself under more pressure when you are down to 14 men.

“And we timed him being off the field for 13-and-a-half minutes.

“We were very disappointed with that happening as well and that added insult to injury.”

Young went on to say he feels the yellow card was further evidence of the problems that have emerged in regards to controlling the breakdown this season, especially given the new ELVs.

The Blues coach feels there has been a complete lack of consistency in the four games his side have played thus far, games that have yielded just one victory.

“The ruck area was a free-for-all and had been a lottery throughout the game,” added Young.

“We had not had a warning and we were not expecting what happened.

“It is a difficult area to referee and we should not pretend otherwise.

“But each game seems to be refereed differently and we are struggling with consistency.

“Both sides were at fault on occasions. But our players are very frustrated with the interpretations.

“We showed what we could do when we had quick ball but they did a job on us by slowing down possession for which they were not penalised.”