Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw takes swipe at referee

Greig Laidlaw appeared to criticise referee Romain Poite when he was interviewed on the pitch after Scotland’s 22-13 Six Nations defeat by Ireland at BT Murrayfield.

The Scotland captain was doing his post-match interview with the BBC and said: “Romain doesn’t seem to like us. He refereed us against South Africa as well and we don’t seem to see eye-to-eye.”

Scrum-half Laidlaw was referring to the November Test against the Springboks, which Scotland lost 26-20, and also pointed to a specific decision he didn’t agree with in the Ireland fixture.

Watch the full interview here…

While Laidlaw went on to say he didn’t blame Frenchman Poite for the defeat by Ireland, saying that the team had to look at themselves, it is unusual for players to be so outspoken in terms of officials.

Coach Gregor Townsend had sympathy for Laidlaw’s exasperation, saying in his post-match press conference: “Nines always get frustrated when they don’t get the ball away cleanly or quickly, if they’re not getting rewards for players’ hands on the ball. I can understand his frustration but it’s a tough game to referee and Romain is an outstanding referee.”

The words came after Ireland had scored three tries to Scotland’s one in this match.

Ireland led only 12-10 at half-time but extended their lead in the second half with a Keith Earls try and Scotland’s errors meant they couldn’t work their way back into the match.

Related: Jacob Stockdale scores try, makes try and stops try against Scotland

These two sides meet again on the opening weekend of this year’s World Cup – and Ireland look to hold the advantage right now having beaten their pool rivals at home.

And Ireland secured that victory without fly-half Johnny Sexton for much of the game. The World Player of the Year left the pitch in the 24^th minute after taking several big tackles – one particularly powerful hit coming from Allan Dell as he set up Jacob Stockdale for a try – and didn’t return after failing an HIA.

Related: What’s a head injury assessment?

Joey Carbery came on and ran the game well, releasing Rob Kearney in the wide channels on several occasions and providing the try-scoring pass for Earls.

Scotland play France next while Ireland head to Italy.

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