Rugby should allow for two on-field referees in games, believes Steve Walsh, who came under fire for his running of the Waratahs-Brumbies Super 14 game in Sydney two weekends ago.
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Walsh, who admitted he erred in that match at ANZ Stadium, told the Herald rugby had become too ”complex” for one referee.
He said his position stemmed from his experience, and was not a result of the issues with the Brumbies that saw captain Stephen Hoiles claim a tackle call on him by Walsh was ”rubbish”. Matt Giteau was fined $5000 for comments he made about Walsh several days later.
Walsh, who returned to Super 14 refereeing after a spell last year due to personal issues, has been allocated Saturday night’s Waratahs versus Chiefs match in Hamilton.
Walsh said Super 14 rugby was faster than Test rugby, adding: ”Most of that has to do with the time of the year it is played in, firm grounds and the athleticism of athletes. I don’t think that is any excuse for a referee because we are professional and there is no excuse not to be fit enough to keep up.
”But I do think the game is too complex for one guy to be able to adjudicate and get right as much as what people’s expectations are, really.
”I just think that is the complexity of the laws at the breakdown, really. The most challenging [facet of a game] is the mental fatigue. We are all out there in a battle of wills with the players. They are trying to get up on the opposition and us.”
Two-referee trials in rugby have been held at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town. But Walsh, who has discussed the issue informally with International Rugby Board referees’ boss Paddy O’Brien, believes there is no support.
”Look at the rest of the world [and sports] that have been professional longer than we are – I am talking about American football and NBA,” he said. ”They all have more officials. The same officials work together as a team week-in, week-out. They have found that’s the best way to deliver a better result from the refereeing side. There is no will for that [in rugby]. But I am convinced, 20 years or down the track, that is something that will happen.”
Walsh, who had been set to referee the Brumbies again before SANZAR moved him to the Waratahs game this week, said it would have been ”untenable” to officiate the Brumbies-Reds clash last weekend.
But while relations with Hoiles broke down in the match against the Waratahs, he admits he erred on his first half tackle call on the skipper of the Brumbies.
”I got it wrong,” Walsh said. ”I thought he was still held to the ground, but he wasn’t. The player had broken out of the tackle. And, yes, the split-second judgment that you hope as a world-class referee … You want to get that decision right all the time, but there are times where you just miss it.”
While Walsh believes the most important attribute of a good referee is good man management, he conceded that there were times when control of a game was lost.
”You know [when] things are starting to boil or players have lost respect for your decision making,” he said. ”You often know when you’ve made a bad decision, and acknowledge that with the captain. It’s a start.
”There are all sorts of tactics to try and get empathy with the players and their leaders.”
Walsh said his clash with Hoiles at ANZ Stadium was an example: ”There is no doubt that in the first 20 or 30 minutes there was no trust and respect between myself and the Brumbies captain,” he said.
”I feel we got back on the same page as the game went on. Whether he feels that? I feel like we did.”
[poll id=”41″]
Just get rid of Walsh.
Get rid of Australia 🙂
Hi all, back in the country after a long sojourn and now I see Stormers storming for a home-semi and Afghanistan is now a top cricket country?
Ai-ai-ai…
Two referees…? No, that will be too chaotic. Two guys blowing penalties, we already have two linesmen who can assist. Rather the odd bad call than two whistle happy Walshes killing the game.
3@ Hokaai – Welcome back in the land of milk & honey….
I dont think its a good idea.. What needs to be done is that all referees around the world must sit down and have one consistent interpretation of the rules because its just a free for all at the moment. I’m so sick and tired of this shit where the Northern hemisphere having referees blowing games differently to the Southern hemisphere referees. Because currently nobody knows how a referee is going to blow a game. We already have two so called assistant referees but they act like a bunch of clowns half of the time..
This is not Netball
Poor excuse Walsh.. Just leave rugby altogether,please come to Durban one day,I’ll fly down to meet you :)And give you a piece of my mind.
7 – Winston 😀
3 – Hokaai 😀 welcome home.
Think maybe we should be able to use the tmo far more than we are. Maybe that is the way to go.
I see maybe like in cricket and tennis, maybe the players being allowed 3 challenges to ask the ref to go to the tmo if they think the call is wrong. We get the call wrong we lose 1 challenge or keep it if it is right. Just look at the Sharks game against the Tahs. Their try at half time was never, the ball was never even grounded over the line. Supersport highlighted it to show it was not grounded over the line. Things like that we should be able to question. Also the penalty try. Challenge that. Maybe see that coming into rugby too.
9 – If we got that the 3 challenges then only some things can be asked by the captain to view again by the tmo. Not everything otherwise it will be a fiasco.
Why does the referee not have an ear piece directly linked up to the TMO Puma,then he can be updated if the referee misses something or needs help.. Not just for try decisions but during the game. P.s. I still strongly disklile Steve Walsh..
Cricket umpires are far more consistent that rugby referees,time for rugby to catch up and stop hiring incompotent fools..
2. Thats the spirit 🙂
11 – Winston this could work, but is supposedly why thy linesmen are there. Maybe the should automate the referees.
Tim,the linesman are a joke,they get involved when they dont need to and when they are needed they do nothing.. Thats why I think the Tmo will be a better bet.
winston @ 11
will not work bru
imagine trying to concentrate on the game
while
someone try to feed you information of something that happened a minute or so ago?
#16
Will work if the second ref, or linesman’s only duty is to correct, incorrect decisions, and not judging general play.
Hello AshJan.
Wat makie weer daai kant?
Pas begin reen hier, erge stormwinde heelnag, ek het amper van my karos af gewaai so teen 4vm!
See is woes rof tans, moosa branders wat hier oor die hawemuur slaan.
So, dit gaan seker maar nat rugby wees in Durban ook.
Asseblief nie !!!
Dit sal net chaos veroorsaak.
Almal het altyd iets oor die ref te se en daar sal nooit ‘n game verby gaan wat niemand iets oor die ref te se het nie.
Een ding wat vir my uitstaan is dat die “refs” hierdie jaar meer verantwoording moes doen en wel merkbaar meer gestraf was in konteks.
Hulle is van die paneel geskop, weg gevat by games ens.
Ek dink hulle trap reeds bietjie versigtiger…
Ash ,ek vertrou jou verjaarsdag vieringe was die moeite werd 😉
Hello Hokaai, jy nog hier?
Welkom terug, ek is ook nou 4 maande terug in SA na 10 jaar in die buiteland, nogal n aanpassing, die land het baie verander, veral hier aan die S-Kaap, allerhande snaakse mense wat hier begin plak….
Hallo Pietman.
Gaan dit goed daar in daai geweste ?
Daar was sprake dat jy op ‘n stadium laeveld se kant toe gaan vir vakansie… Enige reelings al in plek ?
Hi Pietman, ek was net vir ‘n paar weke weg. Ek gaan heelwat langer later vanjaar weer moet weg. Mis uit op Rugby en Krieket en al die dinge.
Die ‘snaakse mense’… dis nou die Valies wat almal emigreer na DA Kaapstad toe?
The system which was intituted a year or so ago in the Varsity Cup with the opportunity for 2 “White Cards” per team where the Captain could ask for a TMO TV review of a situation where his team was unfairly treated would work better than 2 referees.
If you use a “White Card” and you are indeed correct, your Team does not lose or forfeit the “White Card” and there is still 2 Cards left, if however you’re wrong, then you lose One “White Card” opportunity.
Critical scoring mistakes by Referees would to a great extent be avoided…. and that system proved not to take too much playing time…
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