Referees on the international circuit this year have come under enormous scrutiny. Most referees who are on the international panel are full time referees, which means that they are paid to referee and it is their career.
This year there have been a number of controversial matches where referees seem to have come under fire.
You all hear the name Matt Goddard and think Mr Yellow Card.
Well, when you dispatch 5 players into the sin bin, you will come under scrutiny. The ELVs were refereed poorly this year at Super 14 level, where numerous yellow card offenses went not unnoticed, but were just poorly dealt with.
Matt Goddard set the standards early in his game (Hurricanes V Bulls). The players repeatedly offended, so he did what referees had failed to do all season and put them into the sin bin.
He was soon stood down for his performance, where Lyndon Bray the NZ referee manager publicly stated that he needs to rethink his sanctions.
Lyndon, I don’t think anyone had you stood down for all those cards that you actually failed to give for blatant card offenses.
I know I haven’t forgotten the Van Der Linde headbutt that was performed right in front of your eyes where you simply gave a penalty.
I was disappointed administration-wise with how Goddard was dealt with, the only referee to actually come down hard on the players for ruck offenses during this year in the Super 14.
The most scary part this year about the IRB panel of referees is that the top three referees from teams outside South Africa, England, Wales, and Ireland are Bryce Lawrence, Christophe Berdos and Stuart Dickinson.
Stuart Dickinson is a good referee.
He had a very good season this year, and was rewarded with the final game of the series. However, the mistakes by Lawrence and Berdos were countless in the series.
Would Bryce Lawrence be on the international panel if his father wasn’t a former referee and good friends with IRB referees manager Paddy O’Brien? Probably not.
It shows that the refereeing stakes are very low globally.
The pathetic treatment of Steve Walsh by the NZRU got rid of one of the best referees in the game.
At least his talent isn’t wasted in Japan.
And we can be sure that his talents won’t be wasted in Australia, where we will probably see Steve Walsh back on the Super 14 panel next year and on the ‘ARU National A Panel.’
A quality referee that again has his career placed in jeopardy because of poor administration.
This Tri Nations has had some mediocre refereeing topped with some fantastic refereeing.
You may be reading up to here wondering what I am trying to prove. I am just trying to prove that for the referees to be top notch, the administration should be top notch. So I am calling for a new IRB referee manager, a revised international panel, the retirement of certain referees, who were good in their day but are now past their expiry date, and an international sanctions sheet, which would have all serious offenses and their punishments.
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