RUGBY:SCOTLAND'S HEAD coach Andy Robinson was unhappy with the refereeing of Nigel Owens during yesterday's game. Robinson highlighted the 13-4 penalty count against Ireland and the sin-binning of Allan Jacobsen after half-time as key to his team's defeat.

The Scotland head coach, who will attempt to speak to Owens about the decisions, said: “There are a number of issues that I have about the game.

“Firstly, the high Irish penalty count and no sin-bins and their ability to slow our ball down illegally.

“Secondly, I thought the scrums just after half-time – when we’ve got the Irish going backwards and there was a penalty against us and then from the next scrum our prop (Jacobsen) was sin-binned – was a major turning point in the game. We were just about to get on top of the Irish and to lose a player like that is pretty hard to come back from.

“But I’m delighted with the way the team came back from that. I want to know why he made those calls.”

Robinson was once again unhappy with his defence, but pleased with the expansive style of play Scotland adopted.

He added: “The three tries, again, were pretty soft scores for Ireland to get. That’s something we really do have to work at and look at. The game is about inches, you’ve got to make sure the inches are stacked up on your side. The first two tries we conceded were about us allowing Ireland to get the territory.

“But in terms of the way that we played, I was pleased with the whole attitude in the way that we went about it.

“There’s a lot of disappointment about us losing the game, but what’s important for us is we’re looking to move our game forward. Ultimately we’ve got to finish opportunities.”

Scotland searched for a try in the final 10 minutes, rather than a score-equalling drop goal.

Robinson added: “We were going for the win. It was important for us to go for the win.

“There was enough there for us to get out and win the game, particularly in the last few minutes.”