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'In the old days, if a player was in your ear, you could tell them to 'f*** off' and think nothing more of it'

By Ian Cameron
(Photo by David Ramos/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Referee Nigel Owens has a simple message for professional rugby players who badger match officials – it doesn’t work.

Writing in a recent column for the TheXV, Owens says that referee communications have changed radical in recent years, largely thanks to the introduction of ref mics, which means everything top-level referees communicate to players is transmitted to hundreds of thousands, if not millions watching around the world.

“I remember coming through when Ref Mic was introduced at the top level of the game. The reasoning was that it would help spread the game to a wider audience and appeal to casual fans as well as the traditional die-hard supporters. The upshot was that it changed the way a lot of referees conversed with players for good.

Video Spacer

Dylan Hartley relives the red card that he receives during the Premiership Final.

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Dylan Hartley relives the red card that he receives during the Premiership Final.

“In the old days, we’re talking the era of Derek Bevan and Clive Norling, if a player was in your ear, you could tell them to ‘f*** off’ and think nothing more of it. Nowadays referees are not only communicating with the players but to a global audience of armchair viewers eager to understand why decisions were given. That’s brought a level of scrutiny that simply wasn’t there before.

“With increased communication, players have started to have much more of an open dialogue with referees. It’s allowed them to question us. Now, as long as that’s not done too often and in the right manner, it’s not a problem, but it has led to players querying decisions or asking for incidents to be rechecked on the video replays.”

Owens says that players being overly confrontational with referees simply doesn’t work. Owens, who famously said ‘this is not soccer’ during a PRO14 match following one such incident in 2012, says that the tactic in fact has the opposite effect.

“I’ll tell you now, referees tend not to like players who are in their face. A good captain knows this. I remember telling Sam Warburton, ‘if you have a teacher who is shouting at you all the time, you’ll switch off. It’s white noise. Yet if you have a teacher who raises his voice once in a while, you listen.’ It’s the same for referees.

“Some big characters and names are vocal and put pressure on referees but some won’t put up with it. My advice to captains is to get to know the referee and know where the line is. ”

Despite being known for his personable and humorous banter with players, suprisingly the referee who famously referred to Chris Robshaw as ‘Christopher’ is actually not a fan of using a player’s first name.

“What I really don’t like is this trend of refs calling players by their first names. For example, ‘James don’t do that, move away’, ‘Richie, step back’. I don’t like it because there’s no way you’re going to know every player’s name. Some referees call some players by their name and others by their shirt number, ‘No 6 or No 7’. That’s not fair. You can’t be too pally with players. You are there to do a job and they’ll respect you for doing it properly.

“Don’t get me wrong, I do communicate with captains or address certain players by their individual names on occasion. If, for instance, I was refereeing the Scarlets against the Blues, as two captains, I would say to Steff Hughes or Josh Navidi, ‘come here Josh and Steff’.. Or if I’m asking Johnny Sexton on kick-off, ‘Johnny are you kicking left or right?’, it’s so I know I’m out of his way. It’s common sense rather than being too familiar.”

You can read the full article, and many more, at TheXV.rugby.

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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