Former England star Brian Moore felt that Steve Borthwick’s side did not get the “rub of the green” in their defeat to Ireland in the Six Nations.
The Red Rose got on the wrong side of the referee during the second half of their encounter at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
From being in a position of strength – 10-5 up after 50 minutes – England collapsed and conceded three tries which cost them the game.
Questionable decisions
They struggled to adapt to referee Ben O’Keeffe but there were also a few calls which Moore insisted were questionable, with Caelan Doris’ tackle on Tom Curry particularly highlighted.
“Napoleon Bonaparte is claimed to have said that he preferred lucky generals to good ones, and [Steve] Borthwick’s afternoon against Ireland, after a bright start, simply drifted away leaving a residue of deja vu and the feeling that fortune does not shine on England’s head coach,” he wrote in his Telegraph column.
“Those who read this column regularly will know that I rarely criticise officials, but referee Ben O’Keeffe and his assistants did not have the best of afternoons.
“It is one thing to get things wrong as they happen – four scrum decisions, two of which denied first England, then Ireland important field positions for technical and arguable offences.
“It is another to see things that do not happen (Itoje’s ‘shove’ in the line-out) and to fail to review the shoulder-to-neck challenge by Irish captain Caelan Doris on Tom Curry that at the very least needed questioning.
“None of this could be proven to have caused England’s downfall, but when down on your luck, you need the rub of the green against sides as good as Ireland.”