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England’s Four Nations match against Australia to be refereed by an Aussie England’s Four Nations match against Australia to be refereed by an Aussie
(about 5 hours later)
Australia will have a home referee as well as home advantage against England in Melbourne on Sunday as they aim to avoid the humiliation of failing to reach the Four Nations final. Australia will have a home referee as well as home advantage against England in Melbourne on Sunday as they aim to avoid the humiliation of failing to reach the Four Nations final. The Kangaroos are under huge pressure after their 30-12 defeat by New Zealand in Brisbane last weekend but they will at least have a familiar man in the middle after the tournament’s appointments committee chose Gerard Sutton to referee the match.
The Kangaroos are under huge pressure after their 30-12 defeat by New Zealand in Brisbane last weekend, but they will at least have a familiar man in the middle after the tournament’s appointments committee chose Gerard Sutton to referee the match. Both the opening fixtures had neutral officials, with Sutton in charge of England’s narrow victory over Samoa and England’s Phil Bentham earning good reviews for his performance in the Australia v New Zealand game.
Both the opening fixtures had neutral officials, with Sutton in charge of England’s narrow victory over Samoa and England’s Phil Bentham earning good reviews for his performance in the Australia-New Zealand game. But for reasons it has yet to explain, the appointments committee has dropped Bentham from this weekend’s second round of matches and also the idea of neutral referees. New Zealand’s Henry Perenara is to take charge of the Kiwis’ second fixture, against Samoa in Whangerei.
But for reasons it has yet to explain, the appointments committee has dropped Bentham from this weekend’s second round of matches and also the idea of neutral referees, with New Zealand’s Henry Perenara to take charge of the Kiwis’ second fixture, against Samoa in Whangerei. England have yet to comment on the appointment but will not be overly surprised the Australians have claimed this off-field victory. The last time there was a similar issue, for the final of the last Four Nations series in 2011 at Elland Road, Australia’s Matt Cecchin was appointed ahead of Perenara and Bentham, who had upset the Kangaroos coach, Tim Sheens, with his performance in their bruising opening game against New Zealand.
England have yet to comment on the appointment but will not be overly surprised that the Australians have claimed this off-field victory. The last time there was a similar issue, for the final of the last Four Nations series in 2011 at Elland Road, Australia’s Matt Cecchin was appointed ahead of Perenara and Bentham, who had upset the Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens with his performance in their bruising opening game against New Zealand. Organisers of last year’s World Cup tended to prefer neutral referees. Perenara was appointed for England’s opener against Australia and the Yorkshireman Richard Silverwood took charge of the final between Australia and New Zealand.
Organisers of last year’s World Cup tended to prefer neutral referees, with Perenara appointed for England’s opener against Australia, and the Yorkshireman Richard Silverwood taking charge of the final between Australia and New Zealand. The appointment of an Australian referee for a game against the Kangaroos in Melbourne has grim precedents for England. They were left raging at the 2008 World Cup after being bemused by the interpretations of Tony Archer in a 52-4 defeat and Archer was also in charge when they lost 34-14 to Australia in the 2010 Four Nations at the same venue.
The appointment of an Australian referee for a game against the Kangaroos in Melbourne has grim precedents for England. They were left raging at the 2008 World Cup after being bemused by the interpretations of Tony Archer in a 52-4 defeat, and Archer was also in charge when they lost 34-14 to Australia in the 2010 Four Nations at the same venue. England’s coach Steve McNamara has named an unchanged side for Sunday’s match but has not yet ruled out the injured captain Sean O’Loughlin. The Wigan loose forward missed the opener after failing to recover from a quad-muscle injury sustained in the Grand Final loss to St Helens earlier this month.
McNamara says O’Loughlin is continuing to make progress and could yet be drafted in for the match at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.