I have met a number of referees over the years, all of them called Sir and they universally referred to me as “six”.
As in, “Penalty against you, six.”
During this period, there was no doubt who was in charge on the park. Referees were there to enforce the law, be treated respectfully and have one beer with the home team officials post-match before promptly departing.
Detached, reserved, respected.
Compare that to the nadir we have reached with the way referees are treated today by the players and others.
In the Tri-Nations, Michael Hooper could be heard repeatedly haranguing referee Paul Williams on whether Argentina had been given a warning and what that meant for the next penalty.
We had the now-famous Kyle Sinkler expletive gob-full at a referee captured by the microphones, Robbie Henshaw was reported to have done the same last week to referee Andrew Brace, and for some reason a French Division 2 player thought lifting a referee up above his head was an acceptable part of a celebration.
At which time exactly did we allow the players to think this type of behaviour is acceptable?
Little by little, we the rugby public, have accepted changes in player and coach behaviour, increased media criticism, and have expected the referees to not only apply the laws of the game, but also coach players to not commit offences during the run of play, all the while creating a warm and friendly environment by calling everyone by their first name, and including all members of their officiating ‘team’ in major decisions.
We are asking for the impossible.
It has got to the stage when referees are being spoken down to from every direction.
Players on the park, coaches using them for excuses for every loss sustained (refer the Cheika years) and ex-players in commentary and discussion panels pushing opinions, always one-sided and favouring their home sides, while never being challenged as to the veracity of their observations.
In addition, I must say nothing annoys me more than those who are supposed to be the public voice of the game simply not understanding the laws of the sport and then denigrating our officials on the back of their own ignorance.
It is this broad acceptance of the erosion of the referee’s authority which sits at the core of the issue. Seeing referees having to take time out of the game to explain themselves to players and captains is just all sorts of wrong.
Referee John Lacey (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
How a match official makes a call when they are expecting a torrent of abuse, both on-field immediately, and for days afterwards in the media if they get it wrong, is beyond me.
Last year, you had a real sense that referees in the international matches were making decisions primarily based what they had been directed, rather than simply calling what they were seeing within a directive’s context.
This is a small but really important difference.
And now, looming up right in front of us is the Six Nations, to be shortly followed by Super Rugbys AU and Aotearoa.
In my recent open letter to World Rugby, I spoke of the need to re-establish the role of the officials and hope that this year, those responsible for our game find a way to reverse this seriously disturbing trend at the top of our sport.
If I am allowed to prioritise to three actions, referees will:
•Only speak to captains
•March teams back ten metres for dissent (yep, it’s a thing)
•Not coach players
Surely we have to start somewhere, and there’s no time like the present.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
"Boys" In a game involving a contest of strength among grown men, "boys" is cr*p. Men are adults and responsible. Boys are not yet fully formed as men, and require coaching. Referees are not coaches. The Queensland Reds coach refers to the team as "men". He's got it. "Boys" is a term fit only for a drinking game while watching TV.
Poco Loco
Roar Rookie
Scrum, Bobby is correct. Gardener was negligent. He neglected to keep a watch to check that the player did not step on or over the line. There is no other word for it. What else would you call it. The line touch judge’s main responsibility is the line. You may think that the word used is offensive but I’m with Bobby. On the other hand I would have expected the TMO to have raised it. That the ref missed it can be expected as he has to watch for so much and would rely on the touchie for such a call. No doubt Gardner has already whipped himself plenty for missing that and needs no more reminding. He’s a good ref and normally better than that. Cheers.
In brief
Guest
.. but I do agree the constant tinkering with ‘interpretations’ may be the underlying issue here. And we need to ensure the respect remains intrinsic to the game - a very fine balance.
In brief
Guest
I see this as a recipe for disaster. The last thing rugby needs is less accountability. The referees arguably already have too much influence over matches - the last thing we need is more Derek Bevans blowing the pea out of the whistle..
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
Given that I raised Fitzgerald's name earlier in this thread as someone who played in several games he refereed, and watched many more games he officiated in at Ballymore, I also didn't realise he was using preventive refereeing. Maybe it was happening without the players knowing. After all, in that era, many of us had a pretty shaky idea about the laws. I do agree with WJ that most referees in the 1970s did whistle, signal, talk. The amount of talk from the referee's in RL these days absolutely bemuses me.
CUW
Roar Rookie
@ JCMASHER i thin there is a general reluctance on part of refs to apply all the disciple - perhaps its a monetary and TV consideration. there are very few yellow cards for repeat offences ( particularly in NZ and Aus) there are very few cards for backchat - unlike the yellow given by Barnes to former England captain HArtly it seems the refs want to ensure a free flowing game for TV entertainment - rather than being officiated as is intended for eg - in NZ after the plethora of penalties in the first 2 weeks of super rugger , the reffs went back to previos ways , rathe than being strict on breakdown - while aussy just went their merry way.
CUW
Roar Rookie
Nigel was Law unto himself - for eg he gave a rats a#s to the recent law changes. because he was the posterboy - he managed to get away with some horrible performances , in particular in Heinecken cup a couple of yeras ago.
CUW
Roar Rookie
@ HIGHLANDER just maybe powers that be shud stop changing the laws every six months and trying to reinvent the wheel! look at cricket or football or bb - how many changes have these games seen in the last 10 years ( even if u consider 20 or 30 years the changes are very few) making changes willy nilly affects all 3 parties to the game - players officials and spectators / fans. all need to keep up to date and understand the logic and expectation of the changes. rugger union is already a complex game to follow and officiate and play - why make it difficult by shifting the posts every six months ?? just let the game be played for a couple of years without any changes and see how it goes.
Patrick McDuling
Guest
Only give penalties for what is clear and obvious to all.
Highlander
Roar Guru
Hate coaches blaming referees Certainly away from the pro game coaches will hearts their players for offending But most importantly I agree refs don’t need to be popular, just respected
Highlander
Roar Guru
we are of similar era Wally, I am a decade later, but I concur with your views on the offictaing Just getting them to shut up would be a start Didnt realise Kerry was at the start of the horrible preventative phase - thanks for that
gazza
Roar Rookie
Who wants a ref to be popular ? Its only a masochist who would be a ref. A thankless task. Passionate coaches are their true enemies blaming refs for their own player’s lack of discipline. I have never seen a player chewed off by a coach for repeat disciplinary errors leading to a penalty. The coaches frequently blame the ref. Thank God players do not fall over like soccer players searching for an Oscar. But then again even Test players can be prima donnas.
ojp44
Guest
All good Peter, your comments fired up some awesome memories for me regardless, then the somewhat sobering thought that it was 25 years ago kicked in. On balance, still a great trip down memory lane !
Wally James
Roar Guru
I enjoyed the read Highlander. I'm with you. I was taught, in the 70s, that a ref should never talk until after he had whistled and then signalled. He should only speak to explain his decision. Whistle, signal, talk. He should never tell a player something which might prevent an offence (preventative refereeing). The rationale was that the ref would end up being a coach. At that time League refs used preventative reffing. However the number of penalties in Rugby were much higher, on average, than League. One ref in Brisbane, Kerry Fitzgerald starting using preventative reffing. The powers that be enjoyed the lowering penalty count. It then caught on quickly. It is interesting to note that recent ARU ref coaches were reffing in the next generation to Kerry. It caught on world-wide such that by the time I retired a few years ago it was passe. There is always a balance in these things but I suspect preventative reffing is the cause of some backchat. The more a ref talks, the more he opens himself to comment from players.
Rhys
Roar Rookie
Interesting about that experiment, yes I can see it getting very messy if it does not work well then it is probably a disaster. I think getting to basics in the rules is the key observation here and hope world rugby has a serious and ruthless look at it's rulebook. KISS - keep it simple stupid (as simple as rugby rules can be).
jcmasher
Roar Rookie
That would have been so cool. Through the Army I have refereed UK vs NZ Army teams in both the UK and Croatia, NZ vs Aus Army teams in NZ and Aus and different teams in Korea, Singapore, Egypt and Israel
PeterK
Roar Guru
ojp44 - Sorry can't remember the name of the Portland team. I didn't even know they had multiple teams.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Why should it be publicised Pete? No need to open up this sort of detail. As long as they're all given the same instructions and consistent feedback, Joe Public doesn't need to see the minutiae.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Strangely, Barnes has been viewed as one of the best two referees in the world for a very long time everywhere but NZ. I wonder if it's the bias of the observer rather than the actual referee at fault here
ojp44
Guest
As a rugby player who took up American Football (I fell in love with it whilst playing rugby for ORSU Jesters ironically) I actually found the American Football rules to be pretty straight forward. The 7 man crew cover very specific things across the field because once the play starts, the action 'away from the ball' is massive... still plenty of issues despite so many officials and the use of technology... here is one famous recent example: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/rams-saints-ends-with-ugly-pass-interference-no-call-heres-the-simple-fix-for-the-nfl-going-forward/