Scrutinising the habits of referees is becoming as much a part of preparing for a rugby Test as studying your opponents, Wallabies stars say.
With many of rugby’s laws open to interpretation and sometimes confusion, particularly around the breakdown, international sides are using technology to understand whistleblowers’ pet concerns.
Australia and South Africa will play their Tri-Nations Test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (0100 Sunday AEST) under Alain Rolland, the Irishman criticised earlier in the series by Springboks coach Peter de Villiers after a match in New Zealand.
“All the technology and all the footage is there to do it so I’m sure teams are starting to do a lot more work on the ref and how he referees it,” Pocock told a press conference in Cape Town.
“They are fairly consistent so you can see generally what they’re looking for and how they’re looking to keep it clean around the breakdown.”
Pocock conceded spectators sometimes had no idea why referees made the calls they did, but said were happy with consistency throughout a game.
“Players are good enough just to adapt (to that),” he said.
“There’s always going to be times when you feel like you’re harshly done by and, watching the game on the weekend (between the Springboks and New Zealand), there were times when I thought guys got away with a fair bit.
“But I guess that’s up to the referees and we’ll just do our job the best we can.”
Asked if he felt he ever got away with a bit himself, Pocock said: “I guess it’s a case of playing as close to the line as you can and trying to read the ref the best you can.
“Generally the refs are pretty good at being consistent.
“There’s always going to be criticism when so much is at stake.”
Wallabies prop Benn Robinson said referees’ interpretations were part of the beauty of the game.
“I think it’s quite unique about rugby,” he said.
“You come down and play in Pretoria and it’s a totally different game to playing up in the northern hemisphere so that’s unique about it and the ability to adapt to the conditions, to the referee, to whatever it is, is crucial for a team to do well.”
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Wow, I guess people don't understand the game after all
ohtani's jacket
Guest
The same is true for any sport. Once upon a time all of us had to watch a few games of rugby to pick up the rules/laws. I don't have much sympathy for people who say it's too confusing or too difficult to learn. First time viewers are attracted by small details -- team uniforms, mascots, cool looking players. As far as I remember this was the case with any sport I've ever gotten into.
Ben J
Guest
The fact that it takes 43 penalties to cop a yellow card has ruined this year's competition, the Tri Nations has lost all credibility in terms of refereeing.
g-rad
Guest
someone at the roar seriously needs to disable the function that allows comments.
soapit
Guest
nah, wouldnt be too fair to start judging players on past performances would it?
soapit
Guest
i think tho the amount of subjectivity does have an impact. takes a long time to get a 'feel' for the rules and i would say almost requires you to play a few games to really get it.
bayboy
Guest
Another foolish attempt to try and compare the Reds and the ABs The ABs executed this game plan to perfection in Marseilles, I'd say the reds are trying to Mimick the Blacks
JF
Guest
The All Blacks are just copying the Reds anyway.
bayboy
Guest
If the Wallabies and Boks were as good would you be mucking such a fuss?
ohtani's jacket
Guest
The Wallabies have been copying everything the All Blacks do these days. Watch them do the same on Saturday.
SteveDarke
Guest
Well, the AB's do it the best/most when it comes to ruck ball.
bayboy
Guest
So why the need to Single out the AB's as cheats if every team does it?
bayboy
Guest
Really do we need to start going down this avenue again?
SteveDarke
Guest
I have no complaints about the ref from last weeks game, or the one before that, or the one before that. So I'm hardly harping on about the ref as being the sole reason NZ are winning their games. Read again what I said and you might realise I said Rolland is a crap ref. End of story. Every team bends the rules but I expect the ref to do something about it - Rolland didn't. Ergo, he sucks as a ref. sheesh
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
Well you are wrong, he is a competent and good referee who managed a good game. By the way when you understand referees you are going to enjoy the game more so hurry up and stop wasting your time.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Rugby's popularity in a country (or lack thereof) is purely historical and has nothing to do with the laws. If there was an alternate dimension out there somewhere where rugby was the No.1 code in Australia, then the laws wouldn't stop young people from picking up the game or fans from attending anymore than the complex rules of American football stop it from being the dominant code in the US. But rugby has never been the dominant code in Australia and therein lies the problem. As for the reffing, there are complaints about the reffing in every code. It tells you as much about the fans as it does the referees. To be fair, a lot of it is fueled by the commentators, Joe Bloggs with his rugby blog and crusty ex-coaches, but it's still ridiculous.
Mikey
Guest
God forsake me - don't know whether you're an Aussie or Jappie but just accept the AB's are better at the moment a try and catch up - we've beaten AU & SA under 5 diff refs this year... but it's still the ref all the time. For everytime Richie is offside - and we all accept he ain't a saint - i'll find an example Burger or Spies or Pocock or Rocky offside. How come no Jappie's were complaining about the refs last year?
SteveDarke
Guest
I thought Alain Rolland was absolutely hopeless in the earlier games and allowed the AB's to get away with murder. Seriously he is a joke as an international ref. It will be interesting to see how he goes this weekend as neither team cheats as much as the AB's do around the rucks.
bayboy
Guest
The Refs in the ITM cup need to come up to speed if last night match is anything to go by. 27 minutes before Taranaki were awarded their first penalty and they had some harsh penalties called against them.
Terry Kidd
Guest
Yeah Billo, I think you have to have played the game to truely love it and understand it. Lol, my wife complains of the passion I show during games, which seems to diminish markedly at other times.