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Leading Australian referee Angus Gardner has a radical law change he’d like to see in the game – and it’s fair to say it has come as a big surprise to Wallabies Test hooker Dave Porecki.
Gardner, a veteran of more than a 100 Super Rugby games with the whistle, and a former World Rugby Referee of the Year, joined The Roar Rugby Podcast for an intriguing look at the role of a top ref – from the meticulous preparation for each game through to the post match reviews and sleepless nights that can follow big matches.
Listen to Angus Gardner’s chat in the player below or on your podcast app of choice
Gardner told hosts Brett McKay and Harry Jones that the hardest area to police as a referee was the scrum, and noted: “There’s no ex front rowers that are running around refereeing.”
“The hardest area is the scrum, no doubt. It’s super difficult. And it’s one of the areas where we spend most of our time analysing and trying to understand it,” Gardner said.
“Over the last few years we’ve been really lucky across Super Rugby to have dedicated ex-scrum coaches … At World Rugby we’ve had a few different people.
“At the we’ve got Mike Cron, who’s a dedicated resource, and ex-All Blacks scrum coach, who analyses every single scrum – camera side and reverse angle as well.
(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“He looks at both sides for us, tells us what we should be looking at and gives us some guidance around the decisions.
“So we’re getting experts into the tent, and trying to help us because that only benefits the teams at the games. And that’s the most important thing.”
He later added: “The one law that I would change relates to scrums. I reckon the referee should feed the ball to the scrum.
“Everyone talks about scrum feeds, not being straight. Everyone talks about the game being a contest. Get rid of the nines, tell them to stand next to their number eight.
“I’m going to stand in the middle and going to call the scrum in, no one can push, and then I’m going to feed it in the middle and then it’s a genuine hooking contest and pushing contest. I reckon it would make the scrum, a really interesting facet of the game.
“It’s not foreign. You look at AFL – the AFL umpires restart the game with a bounce. They practice their bounce.”
The Roar put Gardner’s idea to current Wallabies hooker Dave Porecki.
”I’ve never thought of that ever in my life,” he laughed.
Porecki said the technical aspect of feeding a scrum, including the work required to get it right, meant the idea was unlikely to work.
“I work with nines, and nines work with hookers and eights. When you’re practicing scrums you’ve got the nines and two connection, nine and eight connection and and also the two and eight connection because I’m picking the channel I’m going to go down.
“It’s still a skill. If you bring a ref into it, they’re going to have to come in and train with you on a Tuesday.””
As for getting scrums fed straight down the middle?
“There’s always a degree of angle because if you feed it down the middle of the scrum, if you think about a hooker’s mobility with their leg they can’t lift their leg up that high.”
Asked for a verdict on Gardner’s desired change, Porecki laughed: “I’d probably rule it out to be fair. But I think it would also be difficult.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.