Rugby League: Sharp Still Sore Over Referee Row

Huddersfield's coach Jon Sharp accused the Rugby Football League's referees director Stuart Cummings of double standards yesterday as the row over his team's 9-9 draw at Hull last Sunday rumbled on.

As the latest device in his attempts to make match officials more accountable, Cummings has put video evidence on the RFL's website to disprove Sharp's claim that his team had been denied a potentially game-winning penalty by the match referee, Ian Smith. But Sharp was furious at Cummings' failure to mention other refereeing errors that he still believes cost the Giants a win.

"I spoke to Stuart Cummings this morning and agreed after studying video footage of the incident in the last minute that the referee got that call right," Sharp said. "But the dismay I expressed after the game was the culmination of the frustration that had built up over a number of incidents - I also discussed six of those with Stuart and he agrees the referee got them wrong. I'm disappointed he's drawn attention to the fact that the referee got the final decision of the match right, but not six others that he agrees with me he got wrong."

The row will fuel the suspicion that by encouraging supporters to email him with queries about controversial decisions, Cummings may have opened up a nasty can of worms.

He and his officials have been under fire since a six-man panel of full-time referees was appointed at the start of the season, and Cummings dropped two of them - Steve Ganson and Ashley Klein - to the lower leagues after their errors allowed Leeds to beat Bradford last month.

Ganson, who has been suffering from glandular fever, will make his first appearance since in Sunday's National League match between Doncaster and Widnes, while Klein appears to have regained favour after being appointed for the Challenge Cup quarter-final between Hull and Catalans Dragons.

Huddersfield's new Australian signing Rod Jensen is due to arrive in London today and could go straight into their squad for their cup quarter-final at Bradford, who could also give a debut to Tame Tupou, the New Zealand wing they signed last month from Brisbane.

Makali Aizue, the Hull KR prop who became the first player to be sent off in the Super League this season at Wakefield on Sunday, was last night suspended for three matches and fined £300.