Honiss downplays meeting with Lions

Leading New Zealand referee Paul Honiss has hit back at negative spin surrounding a meeting he had with a Lions official yesterday after their tour-opener against Bay of Plenty.

Honiss said the debriefing with former international referee David McHugh, who is part of the Lions support staff, had been planned days before the tourists' 34-20 win in Rotorua on Saturday. He bristled at the notion it was in reaction to Honiss' interpretations during the game or concerns the Lions may have had.

"On Tuesday I met Sir Clive Woodward and David McHugh in Auckland," Honiss told the Herald last night. "We sat down for about half an hour and discussed the game, they asked questions of me in relation to the game, how was I going to referee this or that, what my interpretations would be.

"And we arranged for me to meet McHugh today to have a feeling for some of the penalties I gave and how they can avoid giving them away in future games."

Honiss said he would be surprised if the Lions said they were unhappy with what they saw on Saturday night. The penalty count was 10-8 in favour of the Bay. If, after analysing the game, he felt he had got a decision wrong he would contact McHugh in New Plymouth in the next day or so.

"And I'll say 'I might have got that one wrong but I'm sticking to my guns on these ones. In essence you guys have to alter what you're doing rather than me alter what I'm doing'," Honiss said.

He said McHugh had raised several decisions at yesterday's meeting, it had been resolved amicably and there was no suggestion of any discontent. Honiss, who has controlled 32 tests since 1997, described both last week's meeting and yesterday's debrief as "very positive".

The New Zealand referees who are moving around the country officiating at the non-test matches are available to both the Lions and the provincial teams to clarify interpretations.

Honiss, 42, described the Bay of Plenty game as "thoroughly enjoyable, a fantastic atmosphere".

Woodward yesterday admitted referees were not a topic he wanted to waste much breath on publicly on tour. To be fair, he was responding to a question, but it's unlikely to be the last time he speaks about the whistlers in New Zealand.

Woodward rightly made the point there's no sense getting wound up about it, using the old play-to-the-whistle line.

"The most important thing down here is winning and we've got to play to the way the referees interpret the laws. That's what we've got to get used to.

"Overall I was pleased with Paul. He has been excellent to communicate with." Honiss will also referee the Lions-Wellington match on June 15.