Another ref jumps fence to join a professional side

Another referee has ditched his whistle to become a consultant for a professional side in what’s becoming an increasingly common trend in French rugby.

It is reported in France that Maxime Chalon is set to join Brive as a consultant.

The 44-year-old – who enjoys a day job as a computer specialist – has said that he wants to pursue the consultancy road despite having potentially years of high-level refereeing ahead of him.

Chalon follows in the footsteps of Romain Poite at Toulon and Alexandre Ruiz at Montpellier, two top referees who have turned their addition to hand to coaching.

Chalon told Rugbyrama that he wanted to give back to the club which he played for professionally 25 years previously.

“Brive contacted me. And I think that’s a very good thing. I played in this club, I always had this white and black blood running through my veins. In 1997, I signed my first professional contract there. And last year, I saw the club in a bit of difficulty, with a fairly large number of penalties conceded. So we see that there is a lot of work.

“Whether in Brive or in other clubs, the role of arbitration is not taken into account enough. We see that the players have difficulties with the rule. These are automatisms to take, things to work on, as much as individual technique. It is important, the players must integrate it. And so, when the CAB came to offer me this challenge, it was an opportunity to go once again to the other side of the barrier. Here we are going to try the adventure.

“I will come in several times a week as a rule and refereeing consultant. There is a lot of work, we saw it this evening [Brive beat Bristol in a pre-season friendly]. We find good things worked on in training, but also many elements to erase. It is a recurring job.”