A “SECRET document” reveals Worcester Warriors have the highest number of incorrect refereeing decisions against them in the Aviva Premiership, Sixways chief Dean Ryan claimed tonight.
Ryan hit out at Premiership Rugby and RFU bosses after claiming skipper Gerrit-Jan van Velze was denied a match-winning try in the dying seconds by a deliberate Bath knock-on in front of the posts.
Warriors picked up a losing bonus point from a narrow 16-14 defeat and remain in a battle to retain their Premiership status.
Ryan claimed Premiership Rugby and the RFU had “secret trend reports” on the scrutiny of all refereeing decisions made in matches in the the top flight, which showed his club at the bottom of the pile.
“I am struggling a little bit because we have to be 10 points clear before anybody gives us a win,” said Ryan in his post-match press conference.
“I am just astounded because we have got two years of trend reports against us where we have had the rough ride of a referee.
“We had a blatant knock-on under the posts in the last play of this game with GJ (van Velze) under the sticks and the only people who don’t see it in the ground were the officials.
“I don’t know what else we can do to drag ourselves across the line.
"We have a dominant scrum all game yet he (JP Doyle) gives them a penalty which decides the game.
“I am struggling a little bit to keep talking about refereeing errors.
“You can’t talk to the officials (after matches) – they seem to be a protected species.
“Nobody didn’t not see the knock-on in the last play of the game.
"It was a deliberate knock-on right under the posts with a man going to score.
“We understand that we have to try harder than anybody else.
“I will show you the trend reports during the week because they (Premiership Rugby and the RFU) have been trying to keep them a secret for two years which show Worcester have been on the negative end of trend reports from referees.
“Then you look at how many games we have been in for the last five or 10 minutes.
"There has been two years of a consistently downward-spiral on trend reports from refeees yet we are losing games by two points all the time.
“That needs to be in the public domain because I have had enough of it.
“I have to come to press conferences where we talk about another disappointment.
“The rub of the green is something that is part of rugby but it is now not part of the rub of the green.
“I will show you their own referee data which tells us we are the worst refereed side with referees getting it wrong.
“They (Bath) got a penalty off a scrum for us pushing early in a dominant situation.
“The danger is you narrow it down to one specific thing but it’s bigger than that.
“It’s a consistent trend.
“Our last season in the Premiership and this season in the Premiership has us as the worst refereed group in the Premiership.
"You wonder why you are consistently losing games by two points and this has to play a part.
“We are hurting. We are hurting every time we are coming in here trying to face up to it yet no-one else is allowed to hear that evidence.
"To be honest, I have had enough of it. Put it in the public domain and people might have some empathy with how we are going to drag ourselves across the line.
“Two years we’ve been asking for the issue to be addressed and it has not been addressed.
“Today, I am astounded by the final decision. GJ is under the posts and Batty knocks the ball down in the final play, yet nobody sees it.”
Ryan added: “My point is to referees and the refereeing body and the PRL, to which I have been making representations for two years, and all they have ever asked is to keep it a secret. I have had enough of it.
“They have a data report which shows whether a referee is in favour of a side or not in favour of a side.
“Two years ago, I asked that to be club specific and it showed us to be the worst in the league in our relegation season and it showed Newcastle to be the best.
“We are now, after another year, at the bottom of that trend report.
“We are the worst consistently refereed side and that doesn’t mean we are the worst offenders. It means they (officials) get the most wrong (decisions) against us.
“They (Premiership Rugby) have their own independent data. Every game is analysed and we get it by a Tuesday and then we get a trend report.
“I have had dialogue with Tony Spreadbury for two years and he has never addressed the refereeing group about specific Worcester problems. Never.”
“I understand people get decisions wrong.
“What I don’t understand is that over two years that’s consistently been against us.”
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