Lions coach Swys De Bruin says the Crusaders “get away with things” as he pleaded with officials to give his team a “fair deal” in the Super Rugby final this weekend.
De Bruin said he planned to raise the issue of the amount of leeway the Crusaders have given at the offside line with referee Angus Gardner.
"Because going through their clips - and you guys know me, I speak from the heart - there is a lot of things they get away with, more than other teams get away with,” de Bruin told supersport.com.
“Like the offside line, like the hit on the left hand-side on the loosehead, stuff like that. So I will have that talk like that to them. We need a fair deal, all we ask is a fair deal and I hope we will get it."
The Lions coach said there were examples during the Crusaders’ semi-final win over the Hurricanes last weekend.
"We are not looking at that as a team, we are looking at the positives. But it is things that I have to address and make sure," de Bruin said.
"There is a reason why there are 10 metres at a scrum, I looked at TJ Perenara when he touched that ball they are already five metres away, it can't be. They have to be 10 until the ball is out. Those are the little things that we will address."
De Bruin admitted he was surprised that Gardner had been appointed before the finalists had been decided but said he was more concerned with the assistant referees, Glen Jackson and Nic Berry and their officiating of the offside lines.
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