How did Roland perform?

againstthehead · Post by **againstthehead** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:54 am

I know we have a MOTM vote so maybe try a ref vote for a couple of weeks to see what comes out of it. If nothing else, it provides a forum to have a good old rant

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At the game, I thought Roland had a few dodgy calls but I'll reserve judgement (execution) until I watch the replay.

interlooter · Post by **interlooter** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:00 am

No ref will ever be perfect, but he was ok for me.
A few against us,but definitely a few for us as well.
Have seen a lot lot worse

Snipe Watson · Post by **Snipe Watson** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:13 am

interlooter wrote:No ref will ever be perfect, but he was ok for me.
A few against us,but definitely a few for us as well.
Have seen a lot lot worse

+1
Before anyone starts shouting that Rolland cheated was against us all night and tried to ref us out of the game. He had ample opportunity to hand the game to Munster had he wanted to.

Kofi Annan · Post by **Kofi Annan** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:15 am

I thought he was okay,

againstthehead · Post by **againstthehead** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:45 am

2 excellents! Would love to get some Munster reaction. They are furious down in the munster forum. I think the issue lies in that I'd say for 40%ish of breakdowns you could penalise both sides. Either for holding on, going off your feat, tackler not releasing, defender not supporting his own weight to name a few.
The scrum is obviously another bone of contention.

Snipe Watson · Post by **Snipe Watson** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:55 am

Quinlan slated Rolland on RTE and the Munster faithful are falling into line behind him and defying the mods to ban them.

FRB · Post by **FRB** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:00 am

That is typical of Munsterfans....

I was livid with Rolland watching the game but on watching the replay last night I thought he wasn't that bad.

Pleased that he told POC to go away & keep quiet in 1st half as he wasn't Capt. POC didn't stopped chirping at the ref all night. Surprised he had the breath.

browner · Post by **browner** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:07 am

If Munster had taken the opportunities afforded to them by Rolland the reaction on this thread would be very different.

Jackie Brown · Post by **Jackie Brown** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:09 am

Rolland gave them enough opportunities to win that game. His call v POM was wrong near the end as was his call against Henry for being offside.

He was poor enough at the breakdown but was poor for both.

BaggyTrousers · Post by **BaggyTrousers** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:30 am

Yer a bunch of ould weemen - he was ok my Brennan. He yet again employed the subtle cheating that he has done since the day of infamy when he played on & on, giving penalty after penalty to Leinster until they finally won by the smallest of margins in about the 10th minute of injury time.

Rolland is a rubbish wee cheat & possibly worse. I believe he also harbours grudges - & lets face it, I should know - as demonstrated by his offensive YC against Paulie which was simply an irrelevant footnote to the game & him being as ever "le grange fromage" It was of course within his powers & you couldn't say he just did it to make himself important for POC gave him every opportunity, as, being the leader he is, he couldn't shut his bake, but make no mistake, it was a "Warburton moment", strictly speaking correct but done to show who the MAN is on the pitch. Me me me, R Rat.

As Snipe said during the week, it doesn't matter if the whole world hates Rolland he loves himself so much it makes up for it. Last night, he destroyed the scrum from the outset and he & he alone was responsible for the mess it was particularly in the first half.

Then there was the usual urgency to blow when he got the chance to provide a scrum against Ulster in the exact circumstances when Munster were given the chance to get the ball to ground & win it. Happened first about 15 or 20 minutes into the game & wasn't the last time. I always look for this subtle cheating from Rolland because it happens year after year after long year.

Its impossible to fit his performance into one of the categories because he did have his usual little things he instinctively does against Ulster but Munster too will feel they had cause for complaint.

The worst was the penalty against POM when he did absolutely nothing wrong. The funny thing was that he went to the TMO looking for a number so he could card the offender. It was & could only have been POM but having viewed it on the screen he must have realised that POM had not done anything wrong so despite looking for the culprit to card, he couldn't card him because it was not a penalty. Bravely/stupidly POM told R Rat, "it was me" but Rat was not stupid enough to do anything because he would look like a total Brennan.

One of the Munster gripes will have been when the ball was over the line but not grounded. Tornipstanis will scream why no TMO but in fairness the Rat was perfectly positioned & told POM/POC the TMO will just tell me inconclusive.

What I can't look past is the fact that with Ulster having crushed Munster & should have been further ahead at half-time, they were trailing 8-6 on the penalty count. Now I understand that it is possible for the dominant team to have offended more than the crushed, BUT you don't often see the team in command on the wrong end of the penalty count. I'll leave it at that.

So in conclusion, I hate his guts and have done since he first cheated Ulster on behalf of his home province in the nineties but he could best be said to have given both camps cause for complaint. Not one-eyed, just bloody Rolland.

Glad we have seen the back of him.

CIMANFOREVER · Post by **CIMANFOREVER** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:46 am

Voted he was equally shyte for both teams. POC YC was petulant, and scrum time was a mystery to me. Let Archer away with murder; maybe felt sorry for him. Need to watch game away from heat of battle, as I got caught up in the general approbation on the terrace.

BR · Post by BR » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:54 am

I wonder how many people would have disagreed with the POC card if we'd have been one score down and a couple more minutes to go. A yellow was a long time coming and it looked Luke they had been repeatedly warned.

twiglet · Post by **twiglet** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:03 pm

Whilst watching the match at Ravers I thought that the ref was doing all he could to destroy our dominant scrum and give the match to Munster. After watching the recording I believe that the touch judges were bigger cheats than the ref and there were times at scrum time when the ref was responding to the calls from the touch judges. The same touch judges that couldn't see Trimble being blatantly held back on a few occasions.

Just pleased we won and denied them a point.

scrummy · Post by **scrummy** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:13 pm

Reffing isn't easy but even someone like me, who is not a front row expert could see that Archer was constantly driving inwards at scrumtime and never got blown for it. I also thought there were a lot of bodies lying around the wrong side at the breakdown. I didn't enjoy his refereeing, I felt there was no flow to the game. I don't know if he favoured one team or the other, I'm not exactly objective either.

BaggyTrousers · Post by **BaggyTrousers** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:20 pm

BR wrote:I wonder how many people would have disagreed with the POC card if we'd have been one score down and a couple more minutes to go. A yellow was a long time coming and it looked Luke they had been repeatedly warned.

That's a bit, if yer auntie had balls, BR.

With the luxury of not being a point down & the game having just been won at the scrum on our line, we could afford to look at the decision without bias. It was simply Rolland being Rolland, one of the reasons to despise him, the NH reffing show pony. Damn his black heart.

The UAFC