Queensland Reds fuming over penalty count in three-point loss to Lions in Johannesburg

A BUNGLING South African referee robbed the Reds in a crazy final 10 minutes in Johannesburg that is certain to see him belatedly sacked.

A BUNGLING South African referee robbed the Reds in a crazy final 10 minutes in Johannesburg that is certain to see him belatedly sacked.

It will be cold consolation for the numb Queenslanders, who lost 23-20 to the Lions from an unbeatable position when tripped up by a string of howlers.

The Reds are rightfully fuming over ref Stuart Berry’s handling of the game which was branded as “shocking” by former South African coach Nick Mallett.

Richard Graham will request a review from ruling body SANZAR on the key calls in the astonishing 19-4 avalanche of penalties and free-kicks which the Reds coach said was “unprecedented” in his decade as a coach.

The Reds scrambled desperately for the final seven minutes with just 13 men after the late sin-binning of forwards James Hanson and Jake Schatz for ruck infringements.

Worse still, a hamstring injury to top flanker Liam Gill will rub him out for the run of three home games starting on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.

Three minutes from full-time, Berry’s blooper was missing a crooked lineout throw in the game-stealing Lions try that even the thrower thought was wonky.

Mallett, as an expert for broadcaster SuperSport in South Africa, ripped in on behalf of the Reds, who blew a 20-3 lead.

“My feeling was that Berry was very flustered in the end and he was only looking at the Reds errors,” Mallett said.

News_Rich_Media: Queensland Reds skipper James Horwill wasn't happy after his side surrendered a lead to go down 23-20 to the Lions at Ellis Park, questioning why his team wasn't being allowed to play free-flowing rugby by the whistle-happy referees.

“He penalised the Reds with four minutes to go at a scrum which was never a penalty. He then allowed a skew lineout throw. It was a shocking performance.”

At the 76-minute mark, Berry decided not to award the gallant seven-man Reds scrum a penalty when they rallied on their tryline even though Lions prop Ruan Dreyer blatantly stood up.

Hooker Hanson was sin-binned for an infringement worth only a penalty in the 70th minute while No.8 Jake Schatz was yellow carded three minutes later.

The threat of a $5000 fine for slamming the ref muted Graham’s words.

“The score and the disappointment aren’t going to be reversed but we will go through a review process with SANZAR,” Graham said.

“Win or lose, we do that to get feedback or give it.

“I have never seen a penalty count like it. I’m an old back but you didn’t need to be a scrum expert to have a different view on that late scrum.

“With everything against us with the injuries, two yellow cards in the final 10 minutes and certain rulings, we should still have won from 20-3.”

Losing pilferer supreme Gill and fullback spark Aidan Toua (pectoral muscle) for Saturday night’s clash against the dangerous Stormers are huge blows on top of centre Chris Feauai-Sautia (hamstring) being ruled out for three weeks.

The costly third loss of the year to the Lions dumps the Reds (10 points) to a 2-3 position and fourth in the five-team Australian Conference.

The Reds lost only four games when entering the play-offs in fifth spot last year so there is plenty of ground to make up on the ACT Brumbies (17), NSW Waratahs (16) and the improving Western Force (14).