ALL BLACKS coach Graham Henry is continuing to apply pressure on the referees, arguing that during this year’s Super Rugby tournament they have failed in the most elementary areas.
”You watch the game at the moment; the number of tries being scored from forward passes is ridiculous,” Henry said.
”I just wonder what the guys are doing on the sidelines. It’s diabolical. It doesn’t make any sense.
Henry was referring to Australian referee Stuart Dickinson. The recent Reds-Crusaders game in Brisbane was marred by several refereeing errors that also involved the assistants.
Henry said it was time to consider having substitute referees, ”so we have two different referees running the game, because they do hit the wall”.
Meanwhile, the International Rugby Board is investigating the feasibility of a global player transfer market.
The major Rugby Unions have agreed to support a system in which countries are compensated whenever they lose a player offshore. The European clubs are bound to lobby against such an initiative because they rely heavily on overseas players.