EDINBURGH boss Richard Cockerill expressed his sympathy for Bernard Jackman after the Dragons head coach was given a two-week stadium ban for slamming referee Ian Davies.

The former Ireland hooker was sanctioned by the Welsh Rugby Union for his criticism of the official after the Rodney Parade derby defeat to Cardiff Blues.

Jackman, who is employed by the governing body because they own the Dragons, was banned for comments similar to those made in the past by Cockerill.

The former Leicester and Toulon boss has frequently been left exasperated by the standard of Guinness PRO14 refereeing, and earlier this season he was furious at the display of Davies.

He was left frustrated in Newport after Edinburgh hammered away at the Dragons line in the first half of an 18-12 defeat only for South African referee Stuart Berry to not punish infringements with yellow cards.

“I’ll look at some of the officiating and the penalties they gave away,” said Cockerill.

“We were camped on their line for 10 minutes and they gave away multiple penalties yet received no yellow card.

“When we did eventually cross the try line it was a double movement after the referee had spent 10 minutes looking at the screen thinking was it, wasn’t it? I tell you what we’ll go against the attacking team. That’s life.

“We were camped on their line for what seemed like forever and the referee kept giving them warnings. It’s happened in every game that we’ve played and it never seems to get better.

“But I’ll send a report to (PRO14 elite referee manager) Greg Garner and I’ll get a report back. He will agree with me and we’ll just go to Cork and play again.

“I 100 per cent sympathise with Bernard Jackman because referees make decisions which sway games.

"Everybody should be accountable it’s as simple as that. My stance hasn’t changed on that.”