It's an interesting question, and I've taken a long while to think of the words that are best used to make my point without dropping myself in deep water. Now I feel the need to say these are my opinions. You can agree or not, but this is my view for what it's worth. Which I suppose is why you're reading this. I also should say I have never refereed at the top level, but I have the sympathy for these men and women who blow the whistle. My favourite piece of rugby memorabilia is my first referee shirt from when I was 14. It's special to no one, except me, but I had it enchanted by asking Dylan Hartley and Wayne Barnes to sign opposite sides. Such a shame the shirt is yellow, and not red... The point is, I respect the referee in this game. I don't always agree with him, but I respect him. I was rather irritated to see a video released after the Wales/Ireland match suggesting that Barnes cheated. Search it on YouTube. Aside from one or two decisions, I had no issue with that game. But I digress.
It's hard to say why referees are so inconsistent. This is going to sound more like a thesis, full of theories, some evidence supported by personal experience, but my great theory of why referees are inconsistent is because people are inconsistent.
A harsh truth, but a fair one. Barnes is one of the top referees in the world, but watch his 150th Premiership game (Bath v Sale) and compare with the Wales v Ireland game. A very different refereeing stand point, and this is due to the very changeable nature of the game. Every game of rugby is a very different affair, a different set of players, a different history. Northampton vs Newcastle is a wildly different beast to when the Saints play Leicester, different again to England against Wales. Not only that, but the referees focus changes each match and as each play happens.
I refer to Bath v Sale again. Barnes was very hot on targeting players who went beyond the ball and placed their hands on the ground. The intent of the move is to scoop the ball when the counter ruck occurs, allowing the defending team to turn over possession. A completely illegal tactic, and it was interesting to see Barnes pick up on this so much. I'm not privy to the pre- and post-match development conversations between referees and their accessors, but to me, this was something Barnes was asked to look at. My last assessor told me to look at improving the signalling, and when I saw him again there was improvement. At all levels, we're told to work on different aspects of the game. And different assessors say different things, as they have a different perspective and piece together information differently.
And it's not fair to say that it's all the referees fault. If we as referees are liable to get confused or change our minds, or do something different, the players are just as bad. If not, worse. The differences from scrum to scrum is phenomenal. The sixteen players who make up the scrum change their binds, their angles of attack, their mentality. Their input varies depending on what move they've decided to do, if they are trying to force the penalty, if they are defending on the halfway line or the 5m line, and as the game goes on, they get tired, or new props come on.
Rugby is an inconsistent sport, it will vary massively over the eighty minutes. The referees have a hard job of it as it is, but the way the sport evolves in a match makes it very difficult. We try for consistency, but realistically, it's very difficult to do the same each game we referee. We have different angles to watch, different conditions, different teams. It's a magical sport that is never the same game twice. This is why we love it. It's also why it's so damn hard to referee. So when the Shed , and increasingly other grounds, including Franklins Gardens, scream out "You Don't Know What You're Doing," it really annoys me. Aside from one of the key core values of rugby being "respect," it's inherently wrong. Of course they know what's going on. We as an audience are the ones who don't know what's in the referees head. Who remembers the short lived ref cam that was head mounted? It briefly debuted in the sevens series last season, and was replaced by the chest mounted model. Which is useless. Most referees turn their head to look around, I've never seen one with a rotating chest like an owls head. But I am a huge fan of Ref Link. Listening to what he's saying is one of the great joys, particularly the gems from Nigel Owens. If we supplied the fans with a ref link each, even one between two, synchronised across every ground, we could all leave a little wiser. The call "You Don't Know What You're Doing" should be scrapped in favour of a different chant. Say it with me now: "eh? What was that, sir? We don't know what you're doing!"
No comments:
Post a Comment