Leicester coach Cheika hits out at Cole yellow card after final defeat by Bath
Michael Cheika, the Leicester head coach, took issue with the officiating after his side's playoff final defeat by Bath, describing the late yellow card shown to Dan Cole after an aerial collision with Finn Russell as 'embarrassing for the game' and 'hardly even a penalty'.
The Australian was also less than impressed with how the scrum was refereed. 'I've never seen it before in my life, dominating like that and getting nothing, zero. In fact, getting penalised against.
'That was a strategical point for us to try and dominate there and in mauls as well. That was completely nullified, it cost us field position. I think with three minutes to go it was nine penalties to two. It is impossible to manage a field position scenario with that outcome.
'I'll always have a slightly biased lens but I don't believe we were that much more foul than them. It was frustrating to say the least.'
He said he would seek official clarification about Cole's yellow card and some of the scrum calls. 'If the game is sending players to the sin-bin for that … what do I say? If I say something, I'll get myself in strife and take away from the other team. I just have to beat myself up inside and try and keep as much as I can inside.
'They won the competition and they deserve it. I've got my feelings on the referee's performance but I'll take that up with the head of refereeing.'
Cole was in tears at the end of his final game before retirement. Cheika is also moving on from the club after one season but pronounced himself 'very proud' with his side's effort. The Tigers won the try count by three to two but, as a consequence of two yellow cards, played a quarter of the game with 14 men.
'We showed so much grit and determination. We got nothing back from the referee at all and we kept on coming back and turning up. All year we've had the expression about trying to embrace the heat, when it gets tough to try to revel in that scenario.
'Early in the season we still weren't understanding how to get around that situation. We did today. From all different avenues there were fires going everywhere, whether they were set up by the opposition or the ref. We were able to deal with that and get ourselves back in the game.'
Bath's captain, Ben Spencer, believes 'the sky is the limit' for his champion side after the club's first English league title for 29 years, suggesting it might be the prelude to a period of sustained success for a team who have now hoisted an unprecedented three trophies this season.
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'The future of this club is unbelievably bright,' he said . 'As long as we keep our feet on the floor the sky's the limit for this team. I can't speak highly enough of the guys coming through.'
The head coach, Johann van Graan, also believes Bath have the ability to soar even higher, praising his players for the way they have transformed the club's fortunes since they finished rock-bottom of the table in 2022. 'I'm so proud of a group of people who in three years have done the unthinkable really. [But] the best is yet to come.
'The day you stop dreaming is the day you die in life. Once you taste something you want it again.'
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