Dean Richards criticised the actions of Gloucester boss Dean Ryan who he claimed lambasted referee Rob Denby at half-time.
Quins chief questions half-time chat with ref at Kingsholm
Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards criticised the actions of Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan who he claimed lambasted referee Rob Denby in the tunnel at half-time of their Guinness Premiership match.
Richards' side slipped to their first Premiership defeat of the season and lost their place at they top of tha table after they went down 24-20 despite being 13-5 in front at the interval.
Richards admitted he is unlikely to report the matter to the RFU's head of elite referee development Ed Morrison despite being on the wrong end of the result.
He said: "When you come in at half time and their head coach is lambasting the referee 7-3 [penalty count] down and when you go out in the second half and you lose the penalty count 8-0 it begs the question 'what is going on? Perhaps I am being a little too polite.
"It cost us last year and i would imagine that it cost a lot of people when they come down to Kingsholm because in the second half the referee would bottle it.
"I know Rob [Denby] and I like Rob as a person. I think that he is a more than capable referee but this is a very difficult environment to referee in and when you get undue pressure like that then it makes it more difficult.
Happy
"We didn't get the rub of the green with the referee in the second half - exactly the same as last year - so what do you expect when you come down here."
Richards admitted that he had talked with referees at half time in the past but does not do it any more because protocols have been put in place.
He continued: "If that's what it takes then I'm going to start doing it and from my point of view I am quite happy to do that.
"The team are very disappointed with the defeat. We played some fantastic rugby and out-scoring them three tries to two says it all in that respect.
"The team has a fantastic work ethic, they have great ambition in terms of where they want to finish the season and also in terms of their play as well and from that point of view I think they have a great squad."
Ryan defended his actions and claimed that the way that referees having been interpreting the new ELV laws in the opening three rounds of the Premiership varies too much.
Clarity
He said: "I didn't have a go at the referee. I think the interpretation of the ruck has been vastly different over the previous weeks. I asked him for clarity over the ruck law, I asked if people should be on their feet who clearly weren't.
"We've been contesting ball quite successfully for two weeks and suddenly we don't get one penalty to the attacking side or one turn-over so I asked him for clarity of his interpretation.
"Whether we like the current laws interpretations or not they are there and that can't happen. We can't go from 11 to nil because a lot of work is going on around that area. I just asked for clarity."
Ryan continued: "We said that the first four or five weeks coming to terms with the new laws and getting to terms with the interpretation at the breakdown was going to be strange.
"You can see that it is making games closer and I felt that it was very difficult to compare against previous games, That is a constant conversation with Ed Morrison and a constant review process.
"Clearly there isn't a level of consistency yet , neither should we expect it, because it is a difficult area to referee. We said lets review it after five weeks as a group of directors of rugby and this will be part of that review."
Denby, who was taking charge of his 40th Premiership game and denied that he was lambasted by Ryan, added: "As I walked to my dressing room at half-time both coaches politely came up to me. When they do that I am not going to just put my fingers in my ears."
