The standard of refereeing by Steve Walsh in last Sunday's match between the Waratahs and Western Force can ill-afford to continue if the attraction of Australian local derbies is to continue, believes Wallabies great Simon Poidevin.

Poidevin rates Walsh as one of the best referees in Super Rugby, but he believes the Australian should have been made as accountable as the players for Sunday's season-opener at Allianz Stadium failing to live up to high expectations.

The Western Force claimed a deserved 25-13 victory over the Waratahs, but the game was marred by numerous stoppages and delays that played into the Force's strategy to slow the game down and stymie the Waratahs' trademark running game.

The Waratahs spluttered in a performance marred by poor ball handling, ineffective work at the breakdown and lazy defence. As Waratahs coach Michael Cheika said on Sunday: "The game was particularly stop-start, by their design … the referee let that happen."

Poidevin was naturally disappointed with the result as a former Waratah player, but he said on Thursday he believes many of the stoppages were because of cynical intent that should have been better read by Walsh.

"Steve Walsh is an outstanding referee," Poidevin said. "And Steve is normally associated with a high-velocity entertaining game where people play rugby …

"Sunday just became a war of attrition. It was hugely disappointing to see Steve not take action on players who were basically going down injured to slow the game down.

"There were about 10 [such stoppages] during the game … cynical delays, cynical injuries.

"If a player is not a hooker or a halfback putting the ball in, go on with the game.

"People in the stands are smart enough to work out what was going on.

"It was very disappointing to see Steve not working it out because he is an outstanding referee.

"I know [Western Force coach] Michael Foley very well. He played the strategy beautifully and anyone who knows anything about the game knew what was going on."

Poidevin also took issue with how Walsh counselled the two front rows in between scrum re-sets, saying they are: "Blokes who have been around a front row long enough not to have a coaching lesson every time they are packing down a scrum."

But Poidevin hopes Walsh's performance was an aberration and that it will not become a regular occurrence by him and other referees.

A SANZAR spokesman said on Thursday that, according to standard protocol, Walsh's performance – and those of all referees – would have been reviewed on Monday by referees manager Lyndon Bray.

Walsh is due to referee Friday's clash between the Chiefs and Brumbies at New Plymouth in New Zealand.

"[Walsh] was referee of the year last year and deservedly so," Poidevin said.

"But the game can't become a weekly cynical sort of process. It has to stop.

"The great thing consistently about New Zealand teams is that they go out and play rugby, and invariably you get a good game.

"Australian local derbies … toss a coin. And local derbies are meant to be the lifeblood of getting crowds and contests."