White hopes Henning brings officiating consistency to URC: 'There's frustration for everybody.'

Jake White hopes former referee Tappe Henning's assimilation into his new role as United Rugby Championship (URC) head of referees will temper some of the boiling frustration over inconsistent officiating in the fledgling competition.

Some dubious calls, experienced especially when SA teams have travelled to the Northern Hemisphere, have threatened the credibility of the inaugural URC season.

Spectator apathy is palpable as fans sometimes have no clue what rugby infringements or laws are anymore, with players and coaches also none the wiser to some calls.

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The Stormers bore the brunt of the latest officiating controversy when referee Ben Blain only penalised Irish outfit Connacht four times during their 19-17 win over the Stormers in Galway.

That prompted former Springbok coach Nick Mallett to remark about the Scotsman on SuperSport: "When you see how enthusiastically he blew his whistle when the Stormers made a mistake and how he rued blowing his whistle when Connacht made a mistake, it wasn't surprising to know who he wanted to win."

It was as scathing an outlook as a referee is ever going to get.

White, the Bulls director of rugby, was a lot more diplomatic than Mallett ahead of his team's clash with Irish giants Munster at Loftus on Saturday.

"Having Tappe now officially involved as the URC referees manager means all coaches are allowed to [engage] him and interact with him," said White.

"It's nothing different to how it's been before.

"It's nice to have a bit of a channel where we can send some stuff through. There's been a lot of talk about what Tappe is doing to make sure there's consistency in the URC, and that's all we want.

"We want to make