No ref; No game
For years there’s been calls for officials to consistently get the calls right due to the high stakes in rugby, even at amateur level in South Africa. But most of this criticism is based on opinion, emotion and not fact.
While there’s been innovation to aid consistency, the competency of referees still remains a big talking point. For too long referees have been the decider rather than facilitator in matches (as the All Blacks learnt in the quarterfinals at the 2007 Rugby World Cup).
While referees are an important cog in the rugby machinery, developing them are as important to unearthing rugby-playing or coaching talent. Various reasons have been attributed to the dire shortage of referees in South Africa but the lack of financial enticement for prospective referees has to be chief among them.
Currently, refereeing is just not a popular career option for schoolboy or club rugby players; therefore the profile of refereeing has to be lifted.
While it might be easy to create interest in refereeing, ensuring the growth and consistency in numbers is another story. The South African Rugby Union (SARU) launched a recruitment campaign in 2008, but very little, apart from a media campaign has actually materialised. However, it is a step in the right direction.
The current structure sees referees belonging to their provincial societies but only once they’re selected to the national panel do they get paid by SARU. Most referees in South Africa do it as a pastime and some of them are in charge of relatively important games.
Any schoolboy rugby player, who takes the game seriously, will tell you that he aspires to become a national or even provincial rugby player. The reason for this is that rugby players have high profiles and youngsters aspire to become the next Schalk Burger or Bryan Habana.
Admittedly, playing professional rugby is much more lucrative than professional refereeing, but top whistlemen like Jonathan Kaplan and Mark Lawrence (SA’s top refs) could play a similar role as the Burger’s and Habana’s in attracting youngsters to their game.
While the top ten referees in South Africa may be generously rewarded for their efforts most of them actually still have normal day jobs as the status of refereeing is not fully professional. It is understandable that the players and coaches are criticised for poor performances as they are paid professionals and it is their jobs.
But how can a referee, who has a normal job, be asked to carry the same responsibility? The playing field is not equal and this illustrates why there are so many shortcomings in refereeing.
On a typical Saturday a provincial referee could easily be involved in three or four matches, driving far and wide to his various appointments. And he still has to listen to fans that seem to know the game better than him!
This, along with fiscal effects, regularly contribute to referee withdrawals and these individuals eventually give up all together.
There’s been talk of fast-tracking promising referees but until it becomes more lucrative for youngsters to take up the whistle, refereeing will continue having its current impact on the game.
With so much at stake across all levels of the game, the professionalism of players is paramount, yet the most influential man on the field may be doing it merely as a hobby. And without the referee there is no game.
By Ebrahim Moerat
