Less talk to and by refs
O'Brien in search of silence
Paddy O'Brien, recently retired as one of the world's top referees and now the IRB's referees manager, has asked for less talk to and by referees.
For a start he would like players who query referees' decisions to be penalised, thus seeking to end the increasing number of protests at decisions by players on the field, causing fears that the game could degenerate.
When penalised players are to retreat 10 metres immediately or risk being marched a further 10 metres.
This will apply to the captains of the teams as well as to all their other players. There is nothing in the laws of the game which entitles a captain to query a referee's decision, much less debate it. From now on the captain will seek clarity on a decision only when there is a stoppage in play.
This has been the case since 1891. Before that the captains decided on the fairness or unfairness of players' actions. There were two umpires to help them if there was a dispute. If the dispute persisted, the players could refer the matter to a learned gentleman on the sideline. Because he was referred to, he was the referee. If teams were still not satisfied, teams could refer the matter to the union under whose aegis the match was played. A dispute about a try by Richard Kindersley when England played Scotland led to the formation of the International Rugby Board as the body to make laws and hear disputes.
The IRB soon decided that the referee should get onto the field and become the sole judge of fact and law. He acts now mostly as an umpire, making his own decisions, no longer strictly a referee.
Rugby functioned happily in this way till recent times when querying the referee, sometimes aggressively has increased.
There was a match in France recently when the Toulouse captain Yannick Bru queried the referee, David Rosich, in a most aggressive way and without sanction. In the Currie Cup final Jonathan Kaplan penalised the Blue Bulls' captain Gary Botha for persistently having things to say about his decisions.
The top referees in the world will meet at Lensbury in London on Tuesday, normal practice before the start of an important body of matches. O'Brien intends to discuss this matter with the top referees and top referee managers at that meeting in the hope that this renewal of policy can be implemented this month.
Touch judges are to be encouraged to report dissent to referees.
O'Brien said: "I will be telling referees that they will have to get across the message to both camps before the game."
Apart from slowing the game, player dissent often affects crowd behaviour.
O'Brien also intends to encourage referees to talk less. He said: "I watched one game on the television last year and the referee was so noisy that I had to go into another room."
Lastly in O'Brien hopes to assist referees in their conversations with the television match official by enabling him to award a try even if the grounding is not actually seen but is probable. He said: "From now on you will hear the referee ask, `Is there any reason why I cannot award this try?'"
