Simon Easterby has given his backing to Caelan Doris, after the Ireland vice-captain's communication issues with referee Luke Pearce last week.
The number 8 stepped in as skipper when regular captain Peter O'Mahony departed in the second half of last week's 27-20 defeat to South Africa, and there appeared to be friction between him and Pearce over a number of incidents.
The referee could be heard telling Doris to stop questioning decisions, with a number of contentious issues to be adjudicated on, including two TMO referrals, and the tackle by RG Snyman on Craig Casey, which left the scrum-half with a serious concussion.
Leinster back-row Doris has regularly filled in as captain for both province and country over the last seven months, and has spoken about how he's still mastering the art of keeping the match officials onside.
"It's tricky trying to get the balance right between being there, being a presence, and trying to have some sort of influence but not pushing it too far where you're having a negative effect," he said after Saturday's defeat.
Other Irish players have also had issues communicating with match officials this season, with Leinster's co-captain James Ryan encountering problems with English referee Matthew Carley during their Investec Champions Cup meeting with La Rochelle in December.
Ireland assistant Easterby (below) believes Doris was justified as captain to look for feedback from Pearce on Saturday.
"We thought that Caelan handled himself incredibly well," Easterby said at an Ireland press conference in Durban yesterday.
"He has the responsibility to ask questions, he has just to do it at the correct time and that we give the referee a bit of space to make the decisions.
"They need to work as a team of four, sometimes that maybe didn't happen in the game in order to gain those correct decisions, whichever way they go.
"We believe Caelan was well within his rights to ask some of those questions and he needs to also understand that the referees need a little bit of space to then make those decisions.
"So hopefully this weekend, there will be clear lines of communication between captains and Karl [referee Karl Dickson], and the TMOs and the assistants can work together and make sure the correct decisions are made at the end of it."
Easterby was pressed on the feedback given to the Ireland management team following the defeat in Pretoria last week.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, head coach Andy Farrell said that they would "go through the right channels" in clarifying some of the controversial TMO decisions which had a big impact on the game, and Easterby was asked if they had been given "satisfactory feedback".
"We've got feedback, yeah," the defence coach replied, although he crucially did not specify whether or not it was "satisfactory".
"We've gone through the right process, we've had an opportunity to get feedback and put our case forward. I think South Africa have done the same. So, that's no different.
"And, I think we now believe that we'll make sure that this weekend there's no ambiguity.... there's always going to be decisions you don't agree with; referees have an incredibly tough job - especially at the breakdown, there's so much going on.
"We just want to make sure the clear and obvious is picked up, that it's refereed.
"It sounds bad, but it means if a side has to concede 15, 20 penalties, it's because those indiscretions are there and clear and obvious. If a side concedes five, then it's because they've been disciplined.
"We're no different. We want to make sure we're giving the referee good pictures, his TMO and assistants, we want to make sure on the other side of that we're getting real clear comms and decisions on the back of that."
While South Africa named their team for Saturday's second Test on Tuesday, Farrell will show his hand this afternoon when he names his squad at 2pm (Irish time).
There will be at least two changes, with Rónan Kelleher and Conor Murray tipped to get starting roles due to the absence of injured pair Dan Sheehan and Craig Casey, with Rob Herring and Caolin Blade expected to step up onto the bench.
There may be other changes, with Garry Ringrose pushing for a start in the centre after impressing off the bench last week.
But Easterby says they have to get the right "balance" between rewarding form and giving others a chance to right some wrongs.
"Selection is always a balance between knowing that players maybe didn’t produce the type of performance you believe and know they’re capable of, and that they know they’re capable of doing, and also giving an opportunity.
"That will be reflected in the selection this week.
"It’s one of the toughest jobs as coaches in deciding on that 15 because there is so much competition in the squad. You can’t give opportunities to everyone but the guys that do get an opportunity must have a feel and understanding that they have got that chance, and there are lots of other players who won’t have got that chance last week or this week. So they have to make sure that they play for each other in the group," the 49-year-old added.
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