In a recent article in the New Zealand Herald, rugby writer Gregor Paul worries that the NZ$240 million spent on the redo of Eden Park has resulted in a mickey mouse venue which will embarrass New Zealand.
The world expects great sports events to take place in great stadiums, and Paul claims that Eden Park is way below standard and will be a blot on the country’s reputation.
It would be a great shame if this proves to be so, but there’s another threat hanging over the Rugby World Cup that has nothing to do with expensive seats exposed to the wind and rain and that’s the possibility of pedantic, game-wrecking refereeing.
Some of the infractions spotted by various refs during much of this season’s Super Rugby have been completely missed by the fans in the stands as well as by multi-angle cameras covering the action. Why? Because some of these infractions have been illusionary.
Others, if they existed, have been incredibly picky. On the weekend, for example, Bryce Lawrence pinged Tendai Mtawarira for ‘dangerous play’ while Beast was crouched down waiting patiently, endlessly, for Lawrence to issue the command for the scrum to engage.
But it’s during the run of play that one wonders how refs, some clearly out-of-condition, will keep up with the demands of fast, intense international rugby.
They’ll be expected to give decisions on the action twenty metres or more in front of them, and they won’t be able to rely on their touchies all the time.
How can the men on the sidelines help when they have to try to keep up with a Mvovo, a Gear, a Beale, a Clerc, an Ashton, who suddenly snatches up the ball and zooms away?
They can’t.
So who calls something that appears to be a knock-on down the field? Who calls a forward pass when it’s impossible to judge the lateral movement of the ball if you’re not level with the players?
Most worrisome of all is this: will the refs be under orders from the super-authoritarian IRB to police the set pieces with a steely eye and blow up for the slightest infraction?
With jerky stops and starts, scrum re-sets and pull backs from quick taps, much of the world-wide TV audience might just switch away, and all the tragics might end up throwing beer cans at the screen.
It doesn’t have to happen. There are some quality people on the ref panel so let’s hope we get a fair and flowing World Cup. However, some of the men who’ll be in the middle don’t meet with everybody’s approval as old wounds are slow to heal.
Barnes, Walsh, Poite, Clancy, Owens, Joubert, Kaplan, Rolland, Lawrence, and Pearson will all take charge of four matches during the pool phase allowing for a comprehensive review of performances by the Selection Committee. A total of 10 of the 21 Match Officials will be retained for the knock-out stages.
So go ahead and name your poison, Roarers, with reasons for shuddering at the thought of your team being at the mercy of…
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