Italy head coach Nick Mallett has apologised for comments made about referee Romain Poite in the build-up to his side's Six Nations clash with Ireland in Rome earlier this month.
Mallett claimed that Poite had written a letter to the Italian Rugby Federation apologising for his handling of the sides' previous Championship meeting, in Dublin 12 months previously. However, the South African has now confessed that no such letter existed.
"I have already apologised to Romain and I am happy to put the record straight after I was reported as saying that Romain had written to us last year," Mallett said. "I did not intend to put undue pressure on him prior to our match last week but accept that this may have been a consequence."
Mallett had claimed that Poite had apologised specifically for the way in which he had refereed Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni during the game in Dublin, accepting that he had wrongfully penalised the Leicester Tigers ace for set-piece infringements on a number of occasions. That accusation was initially ignored by Ireland but was brought up by head coach Declan Kidney after Ireland had come out on the wrong end of a 13-5 penalty count in Rome.
"I was made aware of the fact the referee had written to the Italian union to apologise for his handling of the game last year," the former Munster boss said after the match. "When I asked him, the referee informed me that was just the opposition coach trying to put the pressure on him. I'll look at the video and if we need to make an appropriate enquiry we will do so.
"Most of the penalties did seem to come at the scrum but we've been told there's an avenue for us to approach this. We've been asked to trust it and that's what I'll do. I'll make my case to the appropriate authorities. Rugby is a tough game to adjudicate on, but I'll trust that first and see what type of reaction I get from it."
However, with Mallett now having retracted his comments, the matter would now appear to be closed.
