It has been a year for referees much as any other year – a year of highs and lows where the best they can hope for is no complaints from players on the field and no complaints from watchers off the field.

Referee abuse remains a universal problem for referees. Glen Jackson, once a great player and now a great referee, said that there was a difference between playing and refereeing, for you could make 5 mistakes as a player and then get cheered for doing something well. In refereeing you are jeered for doing something perceived to be wrong and after that nothing that you do can rehabilitate you in the eyes of the beholders.

Much of the abuse is a repeat of what commentators have to say, regardless of whether what they say is wrong.

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The result of poor regard for referees is dwindling numbers universally even though referees are now trained and compensated as never before in the history of the game. What they achieve with the complicated, frequently changing laws is praeterhuman.

On the score of recruitment to refereeing, there are on the list below 2 top players who are now top referees – Johnny Lacey, who played fullback and wing for Munster and Ireland A, and Glen Jackson who played for the New Zealand Maori.

The laws continue to be tampered with despite a moratorium on change between World Cups. Instructions and ‘clarifications’ come. Before any major tournament the referees for the referees for the tournament meet and this often results in a change in emphasis or even interpretation (horrible word).

The final of Super Rugby this year ended with a wrong decision that determined the outcome of the match. The referee was Craig Joubert, one of the best in the world. The player penalised was Richie McCaw, one of the best of all time. The referee believed that McCaw had erred and McCaw believed that he had erred. In fact McCaw was right, the referee wrong as he said publicly afterwards. The point is that there is something wrong with the laws if a referee of that stature and a player of that stature err.

The law problem is compounded by concocting laws that are not in the book and producing ‘explanations’ in jargon unknown to the laws.

The tackle, the scrum and the maul remain demanding facets of play for a referee.

But if we look over all, it has been a great rugby year and you cannot have a great rugby year without great refereeing.

Older referees watch in awe and gratitude. They are in awe of the standard of referees and grateful that they did not have to endure the same pressures.

The standard of referees has a lot to do with the structures, planning and management of referees in each country.

Test Referees 2014:

Argentina:

• Federico Anselmi: Portugal vs Namibia
• Federico Fioravanti: Colombia vs Peru
• Francisco Pastrana: Madagascar vs Namibia, Zimbabwe vs Namibia

Australia:

• Angus Gardner: Japan vs Maori All Blacks
• Steve Walsh: Argentina vs South Africa, England vs South Africa, France vs Ireland, Italy vs Samoa, Italy vs Scotland , South Africa vs Wales
• Rohan Hoffman: Fiji vs Tonga

Canada:

• Andrew McMaster: Cayman Islands vs USA South
• Bryan Arciero: Barbados vs Guyana
• Chris Assmus: Romania vs Russia

England:

• Wayne Barnes: Australia vs France, Ireland vs France, Samoa vs Tonga, Scotland vs Argentina, South Africa vs New Zealand, Wales vs New Zealand
• Luke Pearce: Georgia vs Romania, Japan vs Maori All Blacks, Kenya vs Madagascar, Kenya vs Namibia
• Mark Jackson: India vs Uzbekistan , Lebanon vs Uzbekistan
• Matt Carley: Russia vs Portugal
• Greg Garner: USA vs Japan, USA vs Uruguay
• JP Doyle: Fiji vs Italy, Romania vs Japan, Scotland vs Tonga

France:

• Jérôme Garcès: Italy vs South Africa, England vs Australia, New Zealand vs England, New Zealand vs South Africa, Scotland vs England, Wales vs Scotland
• Alexandre Ruiz: Georgia vs Russia
• Mathieu Raynal: Uruguay vs USA, England vs Barbarians, Fiji vs Samoa, Ireland vs Georgia
• Maxime Chalon: Ukraine vs Poland
• Pascal Gauzère: Argentina vs Ireland, Italy vs England, New Zealand vs Argentina, USA vs Scotland, Wales vs Fiji, Georgia vs Tonga
• Romain Poite: England vs Wales, Georgia vs Japan, Ireland vs South Africa, New Zealand vs Australia, Scotland vs New Zealand, South Africa vs Wales, Uruguay vs Russia
• Laurent Cardona: Portugal vs Spain
• Cédric Marchat: Portugal vs Georgia
• Thomas Charabas: Moldova vs Ukraine
• Tual Trainini: Malta vs Croatia

Ireland:

• John Lacey: Fiji vs USA, Wales vs South Africa, Argentina vs Scotland, Japan vs Samoa, South Africa vs Argentina, Wales vs Italy
• Alain Rolland: Wales vs France
• Sean Gallagher: Romania vs Portugal
• George Clancy: Australia vs South Africa, France vs Argentina, Russia vs Uruguay, Samoa vs Canada, Samoa vs Italy, South Africa vs World XV
• David Wilkinson: Russia vs Romania

Italy:

• Giuseppe Vivarini: Belgium vs Russia, Moldova vs Poland
• Marius Mitrea: Spain vs Belgium
• Claudio Blessano: Romania vs Belgium

Japan:

• Akihisa Aso: Hong Kong vs Russia
• Shuhei Kubo: Hong Kong vs Philippines, Hong Kong vs Russia, Sri Lanka vs Philippines
• Taizo Hirabayashi: Philippines vs Korea, United Arab Emirates vs Singapore
• Taku Otsuki: Korea vs Sri Lanka

New Zealand:

• Glen Jackson: Ireland vs Australia, Argentina vs Ireland, Australia vs Argentina, France vs Fiji, South Africa vs Scotland
• Chris Pollock: Australia vs France, Scotland vs France
• Mike Fraser: Canada vs Scotland, Tonga vs USA
• Nick Briant: Fiji vs Cook Islands, Romania vs Canada

Portugal:

• Afonso Nogueira: Andorra vs Lithuania, Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Norway, Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Austria
• Paulo Duarte: Cyprus vs Hungary, Czech Republic vs Malta

Romania:

• Radu Petrescu: Belgium vs Ukraine, Germany vs Czech Republic, Poland vs Sweden
• Vlad Iordachescu: Georgia vs Belgium
• Robert Diaconescu: Israel vs Andorra

Russia:

• Alexei Bryzgalin: Estonia vs Belarus, Poland vs Moldova
• Georgii Kopp: Latvia vs Cyprus
• Vladimir Pikhovkin: Latvia vs Israel, Lithuania vs Hungary
• Vladimir Volovik: Lithuania vs Sweden

Scotland:

• Graeme Wells: Czech Republic vs Moldova, Sweden vs Ukraine
• Lloyd Linton: Spain vs Russia

South Africa:

• Craig Joubert: Argentina vs New Zealand, Australia vs France, Australia vs New Zealand, England vs Ireland , Ireland vs Scotland, Italy vs Argentina, USA vs New Zealand, England vs Australia
• Jaco Peyper: Australia vs New Zealand, Barbarians vs Australia, England vs Samoa, France vs Italy, Japan vs Italy, New Zealand vs England
• Stuart Berry: Canada vs Namibia, USA vs Canada
• Jaco Kotze: Lesotho vs Swaziland
• Lourens van der Merwe: Kenya vs Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe vs Madagascar
• Marius Jonker: Namibia vs Germany, Uganda vs Kenya
• Stephan Geldenhuys: Swaziland vs Lesotho

Spain:

• Iñaki Atorrasagasti: Germany vs Russia, Sweden vs Germany
• Jorge Molpeceres: Malta vs Netherlands, Switzerland vs Czech Republic

Uruguay:

• Alejandro Longres: Chile vs Argentina
• Joaquín Montes: Brazil vs Paraguay

USA:

• Brian Zapp: Guyana vs Trinidad & Tobago
• Tom Lyons: Trinidad & Tobago vs Barbados
• Nick Ricono: Turks & Caicos vs Bahamas

Wales:

• Neil Hennessy: Belgium vs Portugal, Spain vs Georgia
• Nigel Owens: Argentina vs Australia, England vs New Zealand, France vs Australia, France vs England, Ireland vs Italy, New Zealand vs England, South Africa vs Australia
• Leighton Hodge: Canada vs Japan, Romania vs USA