Why no Kiwi refs in the Rugby Championship?
Roar Pro By Michael Warren, 10 Aug 2012 Michael Warren is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, IRB, Rugby Championship, Rugby Union, wallabies
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With the Rugby Championship about to kick off next week, I ask a question. Is there a problem with the way New Zealand referees referee?
The IRB have just announced the referee list for the upcoming competition, and there is not a Kiwi in sight.
The Southern Hemisphere has undoubtedly the best, the hardest played and hardest fought competition in world rugby with the Super Rugby competition.
The referees who officiate those games – several of whom are from New Zealand – are considered generally to be the best.
It therefore irks me to find than when the southern hemisphere’s premier international annual rugby competition takes place, the IRB makes excuses to bring referees Rolland (Ireland), Owens (Wales), Barnes (England), Poite (France) to join three of our southern refs, Peyper (SA), Jubert (SA) and Walsh (Australia).
Aside from the inclusion of the northern refs, what has happened to those from New Zealand.
Is this an insult or arrogance by the appointers to suggest that the New Zealand referees are not up to the standard of the northern ones?
Refereeing judgement calls displayed at the last two Rugby World Cups by the above northern referees were in many cases were found wanting.
Referees make mistakes, but have New Zealand referees made so many more mistakes than those appointed that they are either incapable or too incompetent to referee in their own patch and in their southern competition?
There are new rules and amendments being introduced, but there is then an implication that New Zealand referees are too slow on the uptake to adapt to the new rules.
Referee manager Paddy O’Brien suggests that the motive is to bring through a crop of referees with one eye on the 2015 Rugby World Cup. For me, that excuse doesn’t cut it.
There are several competent referees from the New Zealand stable that could have been appointed and introduced into the Paddy O’Brien thinking.
At least there can be no call of bias made if New Zealand win the Rugby Championship.
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- Explore:
- All Blacks, IRB, Rugby Championship, Rugby Union, wallabies
August 10th 2012 @ 1:37am
biltongbek said | August 10th 2012 @ 1:37am | Report comment
You could make a case for Glen Jackson, but maybe he doesn’t have enough experience yet,mSteve became an Ozzie and Bryce, well he has made his bed.
August 10th 2012 @ 7:18am
Sp8s4me said | August 10th 2012 @ 7:18am | Report comment
How can Glen Jackson not be seen as a 2015 prospect? I would sooner watch Jackson control a game than Walsh dominate it any day. It speaks volumes that Paddy prefers Walsh’s blow-the-pea-out-of-the-whistle, I’m the centre of attention style, over a ref that actually lets the players get on with playing. Walsh was actually not a bad ref once, I played a few games with him as the whistle man many years ago in North Harbour. Then the NZRFU literally made him the poster boy of NZ referees and it went to his head. He was always keen for a beer after the game though!
August 10th 2012 @ 8:03am
moaman said | August 10th 2012 @ 8:03am | Report comment
” It speaks volumes that Paddy prefers …..” Errr…..wasn’t O’Brien removed as Head Honcho back in March?
August 10th 2012 @ 8:48am
Jerry said | August 10th 2012 @ 8:48am | Report comment
Stepped down, rather than removed. Joel Jutge is the new head ref.
August 11th 2012 @ 9:55am
Bakkies said | August 11th 2012 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Thank god Paddy is gone
August 11th 2012 @ 3:11pm
Jerry said | August 11th 2012 @ 3:11pm | Report comment
I agree, now the whingers will have to find something else to moan about when they lose to the AB’s. Shouldn’t take them long though, I’m sure.
August 12th 2012 @ 3:51pm
Xiedazhou said | August 12th 2012 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
More correctly O’Brien was given the opportunity to step down, otherwise he would have been removed. O’Brien will go down in history as the most partisan Ref’s boss in history. His personal grovelling to Henry following the Italian test match was unprecedented, and should have, way back then, resulted in his removal.
August 14th 2012 @ 6:03am
Jerry said | August 14th 2012 @ 6:03am | Report comment
“More correctly O’Brien was given the opportunity to step down, otherwise he would have been removed”
Evidence please…..
Your claims of partisanship are completely bogus – of the occasions POB spoke out about reffing decisions affecting the AB’s more often than not, he took a stance that was against the AB’s interests.
He supported Wayne Barnes 1/4 final performance. He said Tony Woodcock should have been yellow carded for his off the ball hit on Fai’inga. He said Drew Mitchell’s first yellow card in 2010 was wrong. But because one time he spoke out about a poor reffing performance relating to the scrum (1 week after the IRB had announced it was going to try and sort out the reffing of the scrum) in a match they won anyway over an opponent they’ve never lost to, apparently he’s the most biased ever.
Get over it, I’m looking forward to what excuses you come up with now he’s gone.
August 10th 2012 @ 8:11am
Charlie Mackay said | August 10th 2012 @ 8:11am | Report comment
The only real candidate at the moment would have been Chris Pollock, who unfortunately required surgery to his hip prior to the SXV finishing, as announced by the IRB appointments people for TRC, otherwise he would have been considered and I daresay appointed to at least 1 game (perhaps at the expense of Wayne Barnes?). As stated above, Jackson is that fraction under-developed at the international stage (look for him to get a test in next season -> RSA v Italy or Scotland perhaps) and surely you can’t want Bryce Lawrence back in control. Walsh has performed well enough this season, even now as an “Aussie” referee…
August 10th 2012 @ 8:56am
Pot Hale said | August 10th 2012 @ 8:56am | Report comment
“It therefore irks me to find than when the southern hemisphere’s premier international annual rugby competition takes place, the IRB makes excuses to bring referees Rolland (Ireland), Owens (Wales), Barnes (England), Poite (France) to join three of our southern refs, Peyper (SA), Jubert (SA) and Walsh (Australia).”
Reality is that there are more NH qualified refs than SH ones. Secondly, Rolland, Poite, Owens are regarded as some of the top refs in the game by IRB. Thirdly, there are always NH refs involved in SH tests and vice versa. 6N has SH refs for some of its games.
August 10th 2012 @ 9:02am
Charlie Mackay said | August 10th 2012 @ 9:02am | Report comment
I’d take Rolland and Owens every day of the week and twice on Sunday over Bryce Lawrence and Jonathan Kaplan… Thank the rugger gods for some of the 6N refs! That being said…. Clancy and Poite… Gah!!!
August 10th 2012 @ 9:03am
Charlie Mackay said | August 10th 2012 @ 9:03am | Report comment
No innuendo intended on “taking Mr Owens…” :\
August 10th 2012 @ 1:03pm
Brett McKay said | August 10th 2012 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
August 11th 2012 @ 9:54am
Bakkies said | August 11th 2012 @ 9:54am | Report comment
Expect Poite who is terrible to get more big tests down under with Jutge in charge. It’s been a while since Berdos who struggled a fair bit with communicating on the pitch with his colleagues refereed in the major tests.
August 10th 2012 @ 7:13pm
Sluggy said | August 10th 2012 @ 7:13pm | Report comment
I’d have Barnes over Kaplan any day.
August 10th 2012 @ 8:57am
Snobby Deans said | August 10th 2012 @ 8:57am | Report comment
Why is Bryce Lawrence not on there? Surely he’d be in shoe-in for the Wallabies v Boks games – especially the one in Sth Africa?
After all, if Wayne Barnes can get international assignments after well-publicised RWC howlers, surely the same applies for Bryce?
Note: this post was written with tongue firmly in cheek (for those who can’t tell or are unsure)
August 10th 2012 @ 4:20pm
biltongbek said | August 10th 2012 @ 4:20pm | Report comment
Not funny, defenitely not funny….who’s on first base….defeinitely not funny.
(for those who haven’t seen Rainman, do)
August 10th 2012 @ 9:25am
Jiggles said | August 10th 2012 @ 9:25am | Report comment
Who would you have? Bryce Lawrence???
August 10th 2012 @ 10:09am
Jerry said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:09am | Report comment
It would be great if Bryce could ref an Aus vs SA fixture, just for the lulz.
August 10th 2012 @ 5:04pm
biltongbek said | August 10th 2012 @ 5:04pm | Report comment
He’s be far too nervous.
August 11th 2012 @ 6:34pm
Jiggles said | August 11th 2012 @ 6:34pm | Report comment
The universe might explode if that happened.
August 10th 2012 @ 9:57am
Jeff said | August 10th 2012 @ 9:57am | Report comment
Because apart from Pollock who is injured there are no NZ Refs currently up to standarsd.But you are not alone in this.We have no refs up to standard either apart from the hybrid [Aussie/Kiwi] Steve Walsh.
August 10th 2012 @ 10:13am
Gary Russell-Sharam said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:13am | Report comment
Actually it will be quite good to see independent referees reffing the games as opposed to the super series. I note that there was a lot of complaint about not appointing independent refs during the super series and finals. Now we have a situation where that problem has been solved and people are still complaining.
I don’t particularly think that the NH refs are any better than those in the SH although I myself would plumb for Jackson to get a gig. I have admired his reffing since he took on the whistle after retiring from playing. He has IMO a greater understanding of how to play the game and I like his style.
Of the refs chosen Rolland and Owens don’t get that much admiration from me but they are surely better than Kaplan and Lawrence.
Anyway it’s all arbitrary we all have our favoured refs that we like to officiate so you can’t please all the people all the time just some of the time.
August 10th 2012 @ 10:19am
sixo_clock said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:19am | Report comment
Bringing NH refs up tp SH speed, tactics, language, expectations sounds quite logical, no problem.
If the IRB has plans to enforce the Laws a lot tougher then who better than refs not local.
Our refs have been going from february and maybe need a spell.
Furthermore we have lost good refs like Saffa Lawrence because of internal politics or insensitivities so are we in fact stretched now. As long as they ref the game in the spirit of letting non-influential errors pass then so be it.
One other point, the noise in the Roar recently about neutral refs has been addressed by the IRB/SANZAR and now some start moaning all over again.
Take your pick from the above, it is not the end of the world.
August 10th 2012 @ 10:51am
SamClench said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
NZ doesn’t really have any great refs right now. Most of those northern blokes should do a fine job, as long as someone tells them to put the whistle away.