'It's incredible the amount of chat from Irish players across the board'

I've seen the standard of Refereeing steadily go downhill over the last three or four years.

It's frustrating that some refs decide who's going to win before the match even starts, thereby that affects their judgement on 50/50s. Porter is singled out often because his body shape is broad, his fat arse sticks out vis a vie his shoulders.

I think it is easy to overstate this.

I could say that Wayne Barns was often characterized by his refereeing decisions as being overly harsh on Irish teams and that he is a key voice in the RFU referee program. I could also say that Carley, Dickson and Pearce have had refereeing performances that appear to be harsher on Irish teams (club + country).

I don’t see an issue with other referees besides these but open to correction. I do think that for reasons that are unclear there is a real challenge that the various club sides and the senior side have with referees and discipline. The players are in control of their emotions and should know when to speak up and when to shut up. If they don’t then they do need direction on that. Aki getting the hook from camp is a good example of consequences.

What I also see is that whatever messages that the captains of the Ireland rugby team are trying to get across are not landing and I think that as a result there is an overeager energy to have constant conversations. If part of the coaching instruction to teams is to present a picture to referees then that encourages all players to have a dialogue. I might personally feel that some of the referees are too quick to dismiss Irish players but I’m only a biased 3rd party observer.

For me, this goes to to a coaching mindset. If I was Farrell, I would tell Doris not to approach a ref unless approached and the rest of the players to shut up and direct all conversation through the captain.

There is no decent rugby team of the past or the present that is not chock full of players more than willing to engage in robust debate with a referee or the opposition. There is a law that exists to penalize dissent with additional 10 yards as a direct response to it and it has been on the books for 100 years (probably, at least 50). Every player is looking for an edge and getting the ref onside so to speak is a part of that. The odd space that the TMO is in means that players have to ask what the TMO is looking at or make suggestions at what the TMO is looking at. So the volume of chatter has increased and in this instance, it could be calmed down by some clear working principles for the players.

Whenever Ireland play the ref has 18 assistant refs

The back chat is easily resolved. It was a particular issue in the Connaught-Leinster match after the Aviva match last year and with so much on the line.

More pertinent is discipline at the breakdown and scrum especially for the international matches.

With a big rugby infrastructure, unless Ireland are playing England there is a good chance that we get an English ref. Leinster have improved discipline around the breakdown.

Ireland should get a referee in the coaching setup. You can see how south african international captains converse with the ref, polite, passive body language, only ask when you are likely to be right.

Doris and other Irish captains do not seem to be prepped. Doris feels that every time he talks to the ref he needs to bring something up. This devalues the times when he may have a point.

Professionalism demands that such a crucial part of the match (Ref-Captain) interaction receives professional training.

The irish have basically refereed themselves for 20 years , so why is there such a big change now?

Whatever. South African rugby players are against the spirit of the game. Stop deflecting, it’s all Rassie and the Boks fault. Stay on script Jackman..

@Eric Elwood Any comment dude…?

I agree that Irish Players are rude, egoic and mostly incorrect in their attitude and knowledge of the rules. Instead of playing the game they are cheating more so than their oponants.

The officials are rightly annoyed.

I saw Matthew Carley stop a Champions Cup game the other week as Munster players were yelling at him for a decision, he promptly told Beirne what he thought about that.

The way Angus Gardner dealt with Doris last year in the 6N against France was also great to see and this should continue.

There’s an abundance of them for the last four years, and more!!!

Not just the backchat and instructions that refs have become wise to with Ireland, and long overdue too…