Former Bok boss: 'Referees seem hell-bent on looking for penalties'
SPOTLIGHT: Former Springbok boss Ian McIntosh has come out in support of Rassie Erasmus, who is set to face a World Rugby disciplinary hearing.
The Director of Rugby will be in the dock over a 62-minute video that was spread on social media in the aftermath of the first Test against the British & Irish Lions.
In the video, Erasmus criticised referee Nic Berry and his officials.
South Africa lost that first Test 17-22 before winning the next two matches to win the series 2-1.
In an interview with IOL, McIntosh said Rassie should rather be praised for the video.
“It is not for me to say whether Rassie used the correct channels, but I do feel that something had to be done to gain the attention of the officials because the game has become far too complicated and a stop-start affair,” McIntosh told IOL.
“It has been spoilt for players, coaches and the spectators. The game has become over-officiated because of too many ‘provisions’ being added each year to the laws.
“Instead of World Rugby disciplining Rassie, he should be commended and a committee established to revise the laws which are too many, contradictory, and in some cases, nonsensical.”
McIntosh says World Rugby needs a wake-up call.
“Can someone respectfully inform World Rugby that the laws were intended to keep the game flowing, not stop it, and that the referee should become No.31 on the field again and not No.1.
“Our very own Dr Danie Craven, a doyen of world rugby, was involved in writing half the laws and he once said that behind every law should be written in brackets ‘But don’t blow it if the infringement doesn’t stop play from continuing’.
“Yet referees seem hell-bent on looking for penalties instead of letting the game go. How else is it possible for an average of 25-30 penalties to be dished out in a game? The old adage of blow the game and not the law has gone out the window.
“And just knowing the laws doesn’t make a referee. It’s about how they are applied that is the difference between a good and bad referee, like a good flyhalf who knows how to read the game and to use the ball accordingly.”
Source: IOL
