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Michael Cheika salutes Ireland performance but shares frustrations about officiating

Australia head coach Michael Cheika admits Ireland deserved to win their November Series test at ...



Michael Cheika salutes Ireland...
Rugby

Michael Cheika salutes Ireland performance but shares frustrations about officiating

Australia head coach Michael Cheika admits Ireland deserved to win their November Series test at Aviva Stadium but also highlighted some of the decisions by officials.

The former Leinster head coach watched his team fall to a  27-24 defeat in Dublin, although their test commitments this winter aren't over with one more game against England to come.

Speaking after the game, Cheika discussed how it was won and lost from a Wallaby perspective. 

"We played a lot of footy but we got penalised a lot didn't we. So a 13-3 penalty count, that costs you field position and territory and then obviously points as well," he said.

"You can't win a test match by giving away that many penalties or that big a difference between the two teams. It's impossible. That's something I'll be dealing with Alain Rolland about - he's the referees' boss - so I'll go through the proper channels and see if we can get something."

Adding that "it's all about the consistency of the application of the laws" and airing a concern of being "a little bit frustrated by the consistency of the maul held up rule", Cheika did feel that that should not take anything away from the Irish performance and result.

"Ireland played well and they deserved to win because they put us under pressure in the first half in particular and we got too far behind," he said.

"But second half I was very pleased with the performance. It's something we'll learn. You can't come for just one half. We were leading Scotland and we got away with it. We played a lot better this time in the second half. We played some really good rugby and just didn't get enough pay in the end."  

He also credited Ireland for consistency with the ball during the match.

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