Unfortunately there is a good chance that the personal attack on hodges will overshadow the key point about officials in this league. already it's notable that all media comments are about lam/ hodges and not about core problem. You have to wonder why our rugby media are not putting more pressure on pro12 to rectify this issue? have irfu told them to back off?

I back what Pat is standing for 100%. While I'm not passing judgement on the extra bits he said the ref comments about the edin game shouldn't make the point he was trying to make disappear. Too often we have been sickened by inconsistency in games and it's exploded now with the comments he made. He was dead right if the facts of the game, said it bluntly and why the heck not. No point Pat pissing and moaning from a bar stool or at the tv about it, he had the forum to say it and said it. Fair play.

For what it's worth, I for one support him 100%. While he could have been a little more diplomatic about his comments regarding Hodges he was highlighting a problem that doesn't just affect Connacht but the reputation of the whole league. How does it look if one week a ref is making some idiotic comments before a game and then not long after his wild intervention allows a game's result to be overturned? I can see some punishment for the way he handled it, but a lengthy suspension or a sacking are not on.

Nothing yet;today's paper's said " at a date to be decided ".

Do we know when he is due to head to Dublin?

So Pat Lam will have a trip to IRFU HQ to meet the Men In Blazers .Its premature to guess what the outcome might be,but if its going to be severe can Pat expect our support and what will we do to show him he has our backing ? We need to start thinking about it.He's started the Charge against Doggy Officialdom ,are we behind him?

I've read a lot about respect for refs since Pat's press conference....well respect is a two way street and Mr Hodges had none for us on Friday night!

Heck ! you don't have to go State Side to see coaches run onto pitch to give out to a ref...head down to your local U10 GAA match ....par for the course in some clubs!

Greetings from Ulster.

I have joined your message board with the sole purpose of expressing my support and that of all right thinking Ulster Supporters for stance and action taken by Pat Lam against the daylight robbery that was perpetrated against you at the weekend.
Someone had to call foul on the quality and at times impartiality of the refereeing of Pro12 games.
I hope Pat goes the distance with this and receives the support of his fellow coaches.

SUFTCC

brilliant! hadn't watched it before previous post!

Also love the NRL commentators attitude to the game! no soft or PC attitudes there. Punch up in game over weekend and ref sin bins both players. commentators go mental shouting" what's the man supposed to do stand there and take it! he should have knocked his head off! sin bin a player for defending himself, disgraceful decision" player had thrown about 10 punches.

or perhaps copy the NRL system of having two referees. One for attacking team/break down and other refereeing defensive line/ offside.

A lot of pundits are whinging about rugby becoming boring of late, and we've obviously had a lot of talk about poor refereeing. I'm wondering could we kill two birds with the one stone by adopting a baseball approach, where the coaches routinely enter the field to have it out with the officials. Bit of entertainment for the crowd and the coach gets to blow off a bit of steam. Win win

salmson wrote: On a side issue - have any Pro12 coaches been given bans (from where - stadium? touchline?) or has this been fine and rap on knuckles in the past? Last year a Treviso conditioning coach got a 9 week ban for wading into a barney between players and nearly hitting a guy's eye with a pen (by accident of course). That's the only one I'm aware of.

Zebre coach got a 6 month ban - suspended for 2 years - for "abusing the match officials" in May 2013. He was a repeat offender.

leads me to suspect that Pat will get at worst a suspended sentence as he has a pretty clean record and his "crime" is probabaly less.

www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-...istian-gajan-4005481

Now being reported that Lam has been formally charged with misconduct:

www.the42.ie/pat-lam-comments-1981787-Mar2015/

So might be time to close off the topic

On a side issue - have any Pro12 coaches been given bans (from where - stadium? touchline?) or has this been fine and rap on knuckles in the past? Last year a Treviso conditioning coach got a 9 week ban for wading into a barney between players and nearly hitting a guy's eye with a pen (by accident of course). That's the only one I'm aware of.

Former Coach wrote:

sea_point wrote:
Former Coach - I haven't publicly disagreed with Lam's actions here or anywhere. I can understand his frustration at the performance of the officials in the last ten minutes. But I would question his judgement in publicly detailing the incident involving Hodges at the Sportsground and suspect that will come back to hurt him more than anything. The footage of the ruck involving McCartney and the Cuthbert knockon is clear, Hodges made an error, but there is absolutely no evidence to substantiate calls that they deliberately cheated us..,

Pat was adamant in his interview that he was dealing in facts. He can substantiate the comment that Hodges made in Galway and calling into question his suitability to officiate subsequently in matches involving Connacht is not, in my humble opinion, unreasonable!

FC - My point regards Pat is that I believe the Unions that operate Celtic League Rugby will row in together behind Hodges, even though Pat may have made a valid comment in respect of what was said in Galway and the error he made in Cardiff they’ll take a dim view of publicly airing his grievance. I heard the interview, and I don’t doubt Pat’s honesty whatsoever he has valid reasons to be upset, as we all do.

But the fact remains that refs mess up all the time, some get away with it week in week out. But for anyone to accuse an official or an organisation of dishonesty or corruption publicly and without categorical evidence is immensely dangerous ground. It’s one thing to suspect, quite another to state categorically.

Pat didn’t come out and say, Hodges said Connacht would lose seven points. He mentioned a conversation an attendant had with Hodges.
He also didn’t accuse Hodges of being corrupt, making corrupt decisions or of cheating Connacht out of points. Because If he had, he would be out of a job guaranteed…

For anyone on here to accuse Hodges of same puts themselves at risk because you can be sure that Hodges representatives, the WRU Referees Association, the WRU will be monitoring social media for anything to defend Hodges with.
www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-...rmation-part-8797715
And if he’s libelled publicly (as Mary has done), I guarantee you there will be action taken against the perpetrators..

green13 wrote: (though over the years Connacht has received more than our fair share) so it's long overdue.

We've received more than our fair share because we've been consistently stuck with the worst or inexperienced officials. The decent refs rarely make an appearance in one of our fixtures. This is another thing about the Pro12 that drives me nuts. The "bigger" teams get the best refs, its always been that way and its totally unfair.