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Blog - The Renegade says Check Out the Opposition
It was a funny weekend for me sports wise.
After being a football fan for most of my life I now find myself getting more into Rugby Union, in terms of getting frustrated or jubilant.
For those of you who don’t follow the game played with an odd shape ball England lost to Wales at the home of English rugby – Twickenham – with the very last play of the game.
Well I don’t think you can call it lose as England were already trailing as they went into the last play. However, they got the ball over the try line with the last play but, due to excellent Welsh defending, couldn’t apply downward pressure on the ball to register the score.
How do we know that?
Rugby Union uses the TV to check out big decisions, I cannot tell you the full breadth of when they use the TV but for tries they definitely refer the decision “upstairs”.
The referee then asks the TV referee one of a couple of questions I’ve heard: “is there any reason why I cannot award a try?” or “is that a try or not?”
The TV spectator then sees the same video footage that the TV referee sees, so at the end we can see the decision being reached. On this occasion the TV referee said “no try” because the referee asked the “Try or Not” question.
The TV referee said it was inconclusive.
Personally, I thought it made good television other than we English was robbed!
The other thing I love about Rugby Union is the way the players conduct themselves on the field. Unlike my beloved football, where sometimes you think there’s a sniper in the crowd, these players don’t roll around the floor trying to get someone sent off or cautioned.
Yes, they’ll make sure the referee knows when they think there’s been a transgression of the Laws but they leave it to him to dish out the punishments. Good to see.
I said at the beginning of the newsletter that I get frustrated watching rugby, some of this is down to great refereeing and dumb players.
The excellent referee – Steve Walsh from New Zealand – told the players what he was thinking and what they should do. I like that in all officials.
My frustration was caused when he told an England player to take his hand out of the ruck. That is, he warned not to touch the ball. The player – being a player – ignored the excellent advice, touched the ball and the referee awarded a penalty against England.
England went onto to lose their lead because of this transgression. If it’s frustrating for me, you and I can only guess what it’s like for his coach.
As a referee you must just shake your head, as an England supporter you get frustrated, as a coach you must feel like committing a crime of your own!
Talking to a rugby playing colleague about this he says: “But Jeff it’s like the forbidden fruit, there’s the ball just waiting to be grabbed!”
I guess we have the same in football, you tell the players to be careful, he doesn’t listen, you award a foul against a player and he says to you: “referee he was asking for it!” To which my reply is: “But you didn’t have to supply it did you?”
The other thing the Rugby Authorities do well is clamp down on chipping away at the officials. My lawyer, Nick Robinson, who officiates football and rugby, always says that the way to stop the chipping away at officials in football is to do what rugby does.
This is what I call a ban! Check this out.
Just in case you cannot access the whole article I’ve lifted a pertinent paragraph:
In a statement, the RFU panel, which was chaired by Sean Enright, said: "Referees strive to do the best they can in a highly pressurised environment. Wayne Barnes is acknowledged as one of the best referees in the game. Referees are entitled to respect at all times, whether the final whistle has been blown or not."
The guy who got banned – in football terms – simply stated the referee didn’t deal with the scrum correctly!
THE OTHER FRUSTRATION
The other frustration over the weekend concerned a referee I watched on the Saturday. This guy is good; in fact I’d say he is very good. He has the skills to get to the very top of the game and yet he doesn’t eke out every mark he can get from me, the assessor.
What do I mean?
There is an unwritten rule in refereeing that you and I should always follow: when the ball goes dead you come alive. Think about it your assessor is watching the game – he has to – to see if you’re managing the game well.
In my case I unconsciously ask: “what would I have done in that situation?”
When the ball goes dead I’m now watching you! Unless I’m distracted by a beautiful woman bringing me an ice cold drink with a few nibbles! (That’s never happened yet – however I can always dream and hope!)
So when the ball goes dead: I’m now watching you!
Have a plan – get somewhere, do something. It could be that you run across to a player to have a quiet word; it could be you take up your next position for the restart but whatever it is DO SOMETHING that says to your assessor and to the clubs you have a plan.
Act confidently – move purposefully and get ahead.
RANT OVER!