Six Nations Championship
Cueto voices referee fears
Scrum.com
February 21, 2009
England winger Mark Cueto in action against Italy, England v Italy, Six Nations, Twickenham, London, England, February 7, 2009
Mark Cueot has voiced fears over referee's abilities to deal with passionate home crowds © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Mark Cueto | Martin Johnson
Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations
Teams: England

England wing Mark Cueto has expressed concerns over whether referee Craig Joubert will be influenced by the vociferous Croke Park crowd when they face Ireland next weekend. With England's current reputation as a side with a questionable disciplinary record Cueto has warned his team-mates that they must be "squeaky clean" in Dublin.

"Places like the Millennium Stadium and Croke Park, and even Twickenham, affects referees. It's the same in any sport," said the Sale winger. "I'm a Manchester United fan and I was watching the game against Fulham this week and there was a blatant handball by (Patrice) Evra in the area - but because it's United at Old Trafford and they're 3-0 up the penalty wasn't given.

"We have got to be squeaky clean. We have four yellow cards in two games so we have to switch our mentality from pushing the boundaries a little bit. It doesn't help when people keep talking about it. It's putting more of an emphasis on it and it's going to be in the back of the referee's mind. Because there is so much hype around it in the press, the 50-50 decisions are going against us.

"But we have got ourselves into this situation. It's our own fault and we have to get ourselves out of it."

Cueto has been in fine form this season an marked his return to the international stage with a try against Italy at Twickenham two weeks ago. One of his main reasons for fighting so hard to return from injury was the chance to play under Martin Johnson.

"I was massively looking forward to getting back involved in the squad and Johnno was one of the reasons for that," he said. "I never played in a team with Johnno but obviously I played against him. In the short time I've been involved with Johnno as manager I have been massively impressed.

"He only talks when he needs to talk and when he talks he makes sense. He has an incredibly logical way of thinking."

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