Aviva Premiership
Furious Dean Ryan takes aim at officials after Worcester defeat
PA Sport
February 13, 2016
© Tom Dulat/Getty Images

Worcester boss Dean Ryan launched a furious verbal assault on the Aviva Premiership refereeing system after Warriors fell to a narrow 16-14 defeat at Sixways.

Ryan was hugely disappointed after Worcester had let slip a 14-3 lead as Bath rallied, then survived a frenetic and dramatic finish to squeeze home.

Ryan said: "I'm astounded that we weren't awarded a penalty try right at the end as everyone saw Ross Batty deliberately knock on in front of the posts to stop a GJ Van Velze try."

"We had the dominant scrum throughout and yet we never picked up a single penalty."

"We can take the normal rub of the green but we are always on the wrong end of the refereeing decisions and we need to be 10 points better than the opposition every week if we have any chance of winning."

Ryan also threatened to reveal private Premiership refereeing documentation, which at present is not in the public domain.

He claimed: "The data in reports, which is prepared by the referees themselves, show us to be the worst refereed group in the Premiership.

"Two years ago, when we were relegated, we were at the bottom of the table and Newcastle at the top.

"This season we are again at the bottom and the table shows that more refereeing errors are made against us than any other side.

"I have raised this issue continuously with the Premiership Rugby referees department over the past two years to no avail and I now feel these reports should be made public."

Worcester had established the 14-3 lead with tries from Cooper Vuna and Donncha O'Callaghan, both converted by Tom Heathcote.

However, Bath rallied. With a large penalty count against them, Worcester surrendered their lead as Tom Homer kicked three penalties and converted Jonathan Evans' try to secure Bath a morale-boosting win.

Bath boss Mike Ford appreciated his side were fortunate winners.

"It was real drama in the last 90 seconds and we needed a bit of luck," he said. "We could have easily lost the game."

"I thought we showed some great character in the second half and our captain, Stuart Hooper, was magnificent at half-time in rallying the troops."

"We've got key world class players missing and there are no easy games in the Premiership but if we had lost in that last five minutes it would have been difficult to pick up the players for next week."

© PA Sport

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