Former Leinster and Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman believes that the level of officiating is only getting worse in the United Rugby Championship.

His remarks come off the back of a controversial performance from referee Andrea Piardi in the match between Munster and the Bulls at Thomond Park over the weekend.

The Italian referee has since been stood down for the upcoming weekend of fixtures after he mistakenly reduced Munster to 14 men after the Irish side lost both of their tighthead props.

Before he and his officiating team failed to properly implement World Rugby’s uncontested scrum protocol, the officials missed Cameron Hanekom taking a quick tap with his knee, which led to a try a few phases later.

It’s getting worse

This was the second time this season that Munster were erroneously reduced to 14 men after sustaining two injuries in the same position in the front-row, with the same happening in the clash against Leinster.

However, against the Bulls, it lasted for much longer as back-rower Alex Kellenden was removed from the field for 14 minutes.

Speaking on the RTÉ Rugby podcast, Jackman rued the performances of the officials on the whole, stating that he rarely sees a weekend of action without a blatantly incorrect decision being made.

While he took exception to Munster being reduced to 14 men, he was also annoyed by Hanekom’s quick tap, as the law book is black and white with that ruling.

“I think it is [getting worse],” Jackman said of the officiating in the URC.

“There’s rarely a week that I don’t see something in a game that I wonder how they missed that. Previous to the fiasco with Munster being punished with an extra man off that they shouldn’t have been, I thought the free-kick at the back of the scrum with the number 8 using his knee [was astonishing].

“I heard Jack Crowley saying it to him at the restart, and I was wondering how that could happen with ref mics and the TMO being able to call in? Do they not know the rule?

“That’s not a breakdown, that’s not something that has a lot of movement. I don’t know if he knew the rule. It’s black and white.

“When Jack said it to him, he didn’t go, ‘Jees, you are right here’, he batted him away.

“We had the shambles with the yellow card.”

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Difficulty managing the referees

With the URC drawing officials from all of the countries involved in the competition, they all have different managers, which Jackman views as a disadvantage when compared to the Gallagher Premiership.

“It’s really difficult to manage these referees when there are so many different managers for each country,” he continued.

“Like I don’t think the Premiership referees are a million miles better than the URC ones, but they are more consistent in the way they referee games.

“If you watch Bath v Bristol tonight and Leicester v Exeter tomorrow, you will see similar decision-making processes, and that’s because they get together on a Monday and they review it.

“Coaches and players are never going to be happy but they trust more that there’s going to be some consistency and if there’s an outlier and one referee goes wild one weekend then you’re aware of that and you watch it the following week and you see if that is going to be part of their decision-making.

“But what we are seeing in the URC is unfortunately really starting to frustrate players, coaches and supporters, and they are all starting to lose confidence, and that’s not a good thing.”

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‘I feel for Piardi here’

The Irishman did have some sympathy for Piardi, who was not aptly assisted by the fourth official when ordering for uncontested scrums and forcing Munster to go down a player.

With it being a closely fought encounter, Jackman believes that Munster being reduced a man for 14 minutes hamstrung the side, with the result having far-reaching implications.

“I feel for Piardi here because he has to trust the fourth official to look after that,” said Jackman.

“The fourth officials only have to be experts on the rules and replacements. Unfortunately for Munster, it’s the second time it’s happened to them which is quite incredible because it doesn’t happen often.

“It was also quite clear that Oli Jager had an HIA, it wasn’t a marginal one where he went off holding his shoulder, it was literally a clear-cut HIA.

“Then if anything happened to Stephen Archer, it was going uncontested scrums because Muncher didn’t have a third tighthead prop like Ireland do with Cian Healy, so it was going to have to go to uncontested but wouldn’t have to be punished by going to 14 men.”

He added: “In a game that tight, I know Munster weren’t brilliant and the Bulls defended well, but you would have to argue, with 15 players, Munster potentially would have won that game and the consequences now if Munster doesn’t make top eight, which I think they will, but to make top four looks incredibly difficult.

“That’s revenue, decreasing your chance of getting to the semi-finals, it’s horrendous. Referees will tell you that it evens out over the year, but when you’re the one who is suffering, it’s hard to accept that.”

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/its-horrendous-bernard-jackman-believes-urc-officiating-is-worsening-as-players-coaches-and-fans-lose-confidence