I’d like to take you back to the summer of 2009 at the ASBA Stadium in Durban. The British and Irish Lions were set for one of the most anticipated clashes of the decade. New Zealander, Bryce Lawrence was to officiate and from the outset, his ability was under scrutiny. The game was dominated by Tendai Mtawarira’s demolition job of England’s Phil Vickery, albeit an illegal demolition. The hosts were eventual 26-21 winners but the uproar had already begun about the poor quality of refereeing. Lawrence later admitted his flaws to the Lions prop where he stated he got the scrum calls wrong and was sorry for the impact it caused on the match. One week later in Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, Lawrence this time a touch judge, was once again at the centre of controversy. Within the first minute of kick off, Schalk Burger was clearly seen to be eye-gouging Leinsterman Luke Fitzgerald; he notified the on-field official Christophe Berdos that the back-rower should receive “at least a yellow card”. A decision criticized by players, officials and pundits as cowardly and unprofessional.
With the Six Nations ending yesterday, unfortunately, the talk was not of the standard of rugby or the entertainment value of an epic day of sport but of the officials and notably (again) Bryce Lawrence. The Bay of Plenty-born referee took charge of the culminating game of the 2010 RBS Six Nations which saw an eagerly anticipated encounter between France and England under the Parisian moonlight. He did so with drastic incapability which had most television viewers siding with the controversial Brian Moore (which incidentally is a miracle in itself) who was under the impression that Lawrence’s handling of the game was “below average to say the least”. The rolling maul, the breakdown and the scrum were all weak areas for the Kiwi who failed to gain any sort of authority on the game and effectively had an influential bearing on the result with 2 of the 3 penalty kicks scored by French scrum-half Morgan Parra coming from dubious scrummaging offences by Leicester youngster Dan Cole
Earlier on in the day Jonathan Kaplan took charge of Scotland’s visit to Croke Park as the Irish bid farewell to the magnificent arena. Much of the same problems were evident in the 80 minutes with the Durban man seemingly blowing up at the scrum and holding out whichever arm happened not to be tied to his mouth by the whistle. Ireland gave away 12 penalties, 6 of which were in the 22 and all of those conceded in Scotland’s attacking territory were offences at the breakdown. The South African found it unnecessary to warn Paul O’Connell for repeated infringements, but to allow the men in green to continually slow the ball down, illegally bringing Scottish phases of play to an end.
Even earlier on in the day, we had glorious Welsh sunshine at the Millennium Stadium and a match that reflected the weather. At centre stage was Englishman Wayne Barnes, whose admirable consistency as an official both at international and club level is something that all referees of any sport should aspire to achieve. He was clear, concise and effective in letting the game flow and making key decisions such as the sin-binning of Mauro Bergamasco. The game was effectively over as a contest, however, the Azzuri had been warned for repeated infringements therefore the Gloucester man carried out his professional duties in giving the Italian a 10-minute sanction.
Nigel Owens, Dave Pearson, Alan Lewis are also up there with the best the IRB has to offer, and it is no coincidence that they are all Northern Hemisphere referees. All of which are good referees because they explain their decisions if approached by a captain or the penalised player. Nigel Owens’ dialogue during a game is an absolute joy and his distinctive West-Walian tone can be heard throughout the 80 minutes. This helps the players and spectators alike with the flowing of the game and the understanding of decisions, something that is very rare with his Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
They have an almost arrogant aura about them which is evident in much of the Southern Hemisphere teams. This pomposity possessed by the Australian, South African and Kiwi referees doesn’t help the game in the slightest. When players ask referees about the decision, they want to know what they did wrong in order for them not to repeat the offence. With every referee having their own interpretations of the law (especially in the breakdown) this communication is essential during the game. Their self-importance is an attribute which is the reason for much of their demise, many say that a good referee will go un-noticed for 80 minutes. Very rarely will the likes of Marius Jonker, Stuart Dickinson, Craig Joubert et al achieve this for they have players, coaches and spectators alike raging with incompetent decisions and the incapability of explaining them.
Another huge contributing factor is the fact that the Northern Hemisphere referees earn their keep by refereeing in the Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup, LV Anglo-Welsh Cup, Magners League, French Top 14 etc. The Southern Hemisphere referees’ pinnacle competition is the disgustingly over-rated “super” 14. Any match where the final score is 72-65 isn’t a real game of rugby, neither is it a real league. However, this is where these referees practice their trade for the big international stage, a league with no competitive mauls, scrums or breakdowns; the most inconsistent areas of refereeing.
There is a huge difference between the top refs and the rest, and who knows, if a Welshman was in charge at the Stade de France, there may well have been English smiles and it’s not often you say that.
