Scottish Rugby Referee Commissioner: Tappe Henning

Scottish Rugby Referee Commissioner Tappe Henning has recently signed a permanent deal to continue the work he started at the tail end of 2013. Spending 5 minutes in his company is more than enough to suggest that the personable South African is really making a difference to a facet of rugby that he harbours a clear passion for.

Having brought through the likes of Craig Joubert, who officiated in the 2011 World Cup final, Tappe’s reputation for spotting refereeing talent precedes him and now he wants to put Scotland back on the arbitrary map.

Tappe Henning said: “The real purpose of me coming to Scotland was to implement a high performance structure for referees so that we can train, educate and coach Scottish referees to Tier 1 Test level.

“The concerns were raised when there were no Scottish match officials at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and the situation has repeated itself now in 2015, which is worrying coming from a country which has always traditionally had a lot of them.

“In short, we needed a professional structure with support for referees in all aspects of it and getting pathways introduced to identify future referees to deliver top quality match officials for international rugby.”

Part of the job for Tappe and his team is finding a balance between the amount of referees that are active and the number of matches that are available to officiate in – there’s no point in having trained people who can’t get a game in which to use their skills after all.

He continued: “We can recruit numbers, but if we don’t stimulate them with appointments and games, they lose interest. If you give up your spare time to get trained, you want to have the chance to put that training into action.

“The game is growing though and there is always a big demand for more numbers, and that balancing act is something that we’re trying hard to manage.”

Andy Macpherson, a Referee Development Manager working closely with Tappe, gave an insight into the demands of being a top level referee compared to the pre-professional era: “The guys all have Strength and Conditioning support and in fact three of our contracted guys have been in today and gone to do some physical training up Arthur’s Seat. They do weights programmes and aerobic work as well so you have to be pretty fit.

“Some of the guys are maybe fitter than some of the players in because they don’t get a break for 80 minutes so in the last ten years the professionalism in referees has gone through the roof.

“They have all the nutritional and medical support as well to help them stay in good shape for what is a physically demanding profession.”

The target is of course to have as many Scottish officials involved across the top of the sport and Tappe broke down how the country’s set up looks at the moment: “We’ve identified the top 50 or so in Scotland, at varying levels of their development and career and through our processes, they will develop to be the best they can be.

“Some might make it to the international stage and others not, but our aim is to get every individual to reach the best of their ability.

“At the moment, the High Performance programme has the top seven referees, but that can become more of course. Very close to them is the next level – the SRU Panel – which has 18, and then the Academy and Contenders Panel just behind them. We try to group levels of referees throughout their training so that we can all relate to each other.”

Tappe maintains that nurturing referees is something that is not just about getting an individual to oversee a World Cup match, but rather that everyone taking up the whistle can contribute to sport in the country and indeed to their communities too.

The values learned through rugby education can help all manner of officials: “The skills that you can learn will help not only in a rugby sense but in your daily life,” Tappe continued.

“Decision-making and management skills can be of benefit to people in terms of teaching teamwork, understanding ethics and being honest with yourself about your own performance in general.

“We want to develop the human being and not just the referee.”

It is abundantly clear that Tappe wants to welcome people from all walks of life into the world of refereeing as he plans the next stage of his role: “Nothing is for free in life but we will give you a lot of information, skills and knowledge to develop you as a person, for free.

“So please come and take it! It’s out there for everyone.

Scotland’s production line up officials ranges from 18 year-olds to those in their forties, men and women of all fitness levels and backgrounds. As per Tappe’s statement, any information needed on taking up any level of refereeing will be welcomed with open arms: “People should make themselves available to offer their services to their local society.

“There are games being played all over Scotland in parts and areas that need local people to help out. It won’t cost money, it will only cost a bit of time and give a service to kids and the like in your local community.

scrummagazine