Aussie media roast Boks for blaming ref's whistle

SYDNEY - The Australian media has lambasted Springbok coach Jake White for criticising New Zealand referee Paul Honiss after the Wallabies' 49-0 pasting of his side on Saturday.

White claimed his team were constantly and unfairly penalised for offside offences by Honiss during the match and that the referee turned a blind eye to Australian infringements at the tackle.

"The Boks' brain trust were churlish and childish, a band of bad sports in denial over their own gross deficiencies as they launched a poisonous post-game attack on Kiwi referee Paul Honiss," wrote Peter Jenkins of the Daily Telegraph.

The Springboks defended like "shop-window dummies" and showed about as much life in attack, but White laid "a shovelful of blame on the bloke with the whistle and found a deluded ally in skipper John Smit", Jenkins said. "This from the same pair who fiddled with reality the day before the game when White branded as 'a made-up story' the tale about the Boks having a bet a few years back on who could pull out one of [Wallaby flanker] George Smith's dreadlocks."

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Greg Growden also called White "churlish". "I was left wondering whether I was watching an episode of The Twilight Zone as White and Smit repeatedly brought up how they had been unfairly treated by Honiss. Were they serious, or was it just a diversion to camouflage the glaring fact they are struggling big time and are in charge of a rabble?"

Growden said comments by Smit that every time they put Australia under pressure they were penalised was a "the ultimate bleat, and a pathetic bleat at that".

Honiss said after the criticism from White and Smit that his assessor had told him he could have penalised the Springboks at least five more times for offside play.

"Who am I? The scapegoat for this week? Obviously, Jake White," said Honiss.

- NZPA