As the start of the Rugby World Cup looms, it’s interesting to take a look at the controversy that has surrounded the debate of Northern and Southern hemisphere referees and how they perceive different aspects of rugby. The World Cup referee selection process, which took place around 4 months ago, confirmed that an experienced mix of Northern and Southern hemisphere referees would be officiating at the tournament:
Wayne Barnes (RFU), George Clancy (IRFU), JP Doyle (RFU), Jérôme Garcès (FFR), Pascal Gauzere (FFR), Glen Jackson (NZR), Craig Joubert (SARU), John Lacey (IRFU), Nigel Owens (WRU), Jaco Peyper (SARU), Romain Poite (FFR), Chris Pollock (NZR)
A mix of referees is a great asset to any tournament, particularly when they all bring a wealth of experience. But over the last decade, more cracks have started to develop in their consistency and with a World Cup almost upon us, it’s crucial every referee is on the same wavelength.
It’s been common knowledge for quite some time that rugby in the North is quite a bit slower and more contact oriented whereas down South there is far more emphasis on playing a high tempo, quick style of running rugby. While both styles of rugby are great to watch in their own right, the differing styles have had an impact on the way their referees interpret the laws of rugby.
Rugby is at a point now where certain referees react directly to how a team approaches a game in terms of their tactics – an aspect that seems farcical given how global and professional rugby is. If you get down to the nitty gritty, it’s almost as though particular referees devalue certain areas of the game and their officiating disappears within parts of that game, a common occurrence that is killing the sport and its core values.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the main point of contention for referees is at scrum time and at breakdowns and its as though the scrum itself is seen more as a channel to restart the game instead of direct competition for the ball which means it is constantly misunderstood by the referees. As far back as the 2003 World Cup Final, the man in the middle Andre Watson constantly illustrated this trend after awarding consecutive free-kicks to an inferior Australian scrum in turn, punishing a very dominant English scrum. And despite the new engagement rules in the scrum introduced in 2013 being discredited by parties in both hemispheres, there were more who welcomed it in the North, than there were in the South.
If new laws can’t be agreed upon then there will never be uniformity in enforcing them. Southern Hemisphere referees are far too strict, particularly when competing for the ball at the breakdown, for example; in the first test of the Lions tour in 2013 Brian O’Driscoll was relentlessly penalised when competing to steal the ball at the breakdown despite arguably doing nothing illegal – the main point of contention being if the tackler released and when the ruck was actually formed. It’s as though these elements of the game are seen as direct factors that slow the game down, and therefore lose their importance and impact despite being integral parts of rugby.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the breakdown is another area surrounded in controversy in terms of how it is governed. In contrary to the Southern Hemisphere referees, many referees in the north are guilty of being far too lenient particularly when players seem to consistently secure the ball from the opposition in an illegal fashion. The amount of premiership matches which were refereed by officials who were content in allowing players to fly in off their feet to clear rucks as well as lay all over the ball preventing the opposition to compete for it legally is unacceptable.
And therein lies the question – when referees have vastly different interpretations of what is illegal and what isn’t, how can Northern Hemisphere sides emulate the same style of their Southern counterparts and visa versa if the referees don’t allow it?
World Rugby does hold regular meetings regarding the refereeing standards around the world and, with a World Cup in our midst, you can guarantee that they’re working around the clock to ensure referees are 100% correct in their calls at this year’s tournament – at the end of the day, there needs to be total consistence between the group of referees whether they’re refereeing England v New Zealand in the World Cup Final at Twickenham, or Italy v Canada at Elland Road in Leeds.
In terms of thinking of a solution – it is a tough one considering the often diluted rules of Rugby Union regarding how fast a player rolls away from the ruck etc. However teams shouldn’t have to consider which referee they have as to how they approach a game. The performance of the referees at this year’s tournament will be interesting and ultimately, we just have to hope that the fine line between winning the Rugby World Cup and losing it, isn’t the blow of a whistle