Referees expect criticism but rugby can do without the witch-hunts
Jonny Wilkinson missed around 13 per cent of his kicks at goal while 2.6 per cent of Roger Federer’s serves were double faults and Tiger Woods failed to hit around 30 per cent of greens in ‘regulation’. Even the greatest sportsmen of the last 20 years proved fallible on occasions and when they made their relatively rare mistakes – even on the biggest of sporting stages – there was little more than a raised eyebrow.
So why is it that the world now cuts match officials so little slack? Sit and watch Twitter with one eye while you next enjoy a big match from the comfort of an armchair and you will see the referee receives a steady stream of criticism. While some of it is well-informed, much is well wide of the mark and at the extreme is offensive and delusional.
The latest victim of this is Scottish international referee Mike Adamson, who was subjected to 48 hours of vehement criticism following the final few minutes of Harlequins’ Heineken Champions Cup win over Castres.
This largely centred on three decisions in the closing stages of the match. All of these proved crucial to the outcome and having looked at them again, it is impossible to argue that Adamson and his colleagues – with TMO Brian MacNeice prominent – got any of the three right.
A wrongly awarded penalty by Adamson was an error of interpretation, a missed forward pass was a case of poor positioning and/or obscured vision while the pivotal try award was (unless TV pictures exist which only MacNeice saw and not the referee) caused by incorrect use of the TMO protocol.
The performance of referee Mike Adamson at The Stoop on Friday ignited a Twitter storm ahead of next month's Six Nations#HARvCAS #HeinekenChampionsCup #England #SixNations #ENGvWALhttps://t.co/40nsX1OW57
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 22, 2022
Three errors in ten minutes isn’t great. It cost Castres a place in the last 16, but am I alone in thinking some of the reaction to referee Adamson was disproportionate? As demonstrated above, even the best make mistakes. While I have previously expressed serious doubts about the short-term consequences of fast-tracking ex-players to the top of the refereeing tree, it seems to me that match officials in this social media age are subject to a level of scrutiny and vitriol which is completely inappropriate.
Before going any further, we have to accept that when you opt to become a match official you accept that a degree of criticism is coming your way. Sport has winners and losers and not everyone is able to deal with defeat without seeking the nearest convenient scapegoat.
In addition, like players and coaches, match officials make mistakes. Good ones make fewer than those further down the tree but it is a fact of sporting life. It always makes me smile when a fourths XV player or junior team coach bemoans the standard of refereeing without appreciating that ‘Sir’ usually performs to a similar level to the players.
The commonest social media response to an officiating error or a string of decisions going against a supporter’s team instantly labels the whistler “useless” or “out of his/her depth” regardless of any number of accurate calls previously made in the match.
Like players and coaches, referees reach their level through a series of strong performances at lower levels. Loads of time and effort goes into training officials, coaching and assessing them on the field and then mentoring them as they progress.
Those officials that reach the top are not there by accident. They are considered by those who spend their time in assessment, grading, training and development to be best suited to the job.
It is therefore extremely unlikely that they are “useless” and if they seem a little “out of their depth” perhaps it is because (as is sometimes the case for fast-tracked ex-players) they are short of the 20-years’ experience with which the very best, such as Wayne Barnes or Nigel Owens, make things appear so effortless.
Former Ireland boss Eddie O’Sullivan has voiced the opinion that a poor performance by a match official has zero consequences. With Adamson lined up to referee two Six Nations games, he presumably was hinting that last week’s mistakes should see him removed from these prestigious appointments.
Keep in mind the shocking forward pass in the lead up to the 1st Pen. People wonder why coaches get so upset with referees. Most frustrating part is there are zero consequences for Mike Adamson. He is promoted to the 6 Nations despite his performance. https://t.co/ZK9A1Pqn3w
— Eddie O'Sullivan (@TheRealEddieOS) January 21, 2022
When O’Sullivan’s side was struggling at the 2007 World Cup it would be interesting to know if he routinely threatened to drop under-delivering players from the next game (he did, just ask Peter Stringer!). Having the threat of the axe continually hanging over your head in this way would do nothing to help most players and referees are no different.
This is not to say that match officials are above criticism or rational assessment of their performance good and bad. The best way to drive improvement in most walks of life is to identify areas needing work and then look at them with the help of experts. Another key point here is that dishing out some plaudits alongside the brickbats is both helpful and fair.
The confidence of Adamson will have taken a huge hit after Friday night and he will be desperate for a couple of incident-free matches to restore some self-belief as a referee. If an official makes some mistakes, surely support and training and a period of time in which to adapt and improve are required before taking the kind of action O’Sullivan appears to be demanding?
There were 4?? red cards ? and 1?? 3?? weeks of bans ? in the 2021 Six Nationshttps://t.co/dYl388PrFc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 17, 2022
Take a snapshot of the Gallagher Premiership or World Cup officiating teams at four-yearly intervals and it will quickly become apparent that referees have a shelf life. It is not simply a case of reaching the top and then staying there until you are too old, but rather needing to continue to deliver performances of an appropriate standard. Unlike DoR’s, referees are not sacked in a blaze of publicity but usually find themselves ‘managed’ to games of their own level.
Moving to another sentiment regularly expressed by those who are heavily critical of match officials at the top levels, by being paid why should they become ‘fair game’ for limitless criticism from not just their employers and other stakeholders but anyone with a phone and a Twitter account?
Perhaps the biggest concern emanating from this weekend is the knock-on effect that social media’s worst excesses have on behaviour towards referees at lower levels. I recently watched a level seven local derby between two village teams which was an engrossing match that was really well refereed by a 20-year-old official.
Around ten minutes from time, with one score between the teams, the home side conceded back-to-back penalties. A 50-something supporter of the away team raced to the rail surrounding the pitch and yelled: “How f***ing many, referee?”
He was pointedly ignored and subsequently managed to keep his thoughts to himself. Nonetheless, it made me question what is now considered acceptable behaviour towards match officials and whether social media is playing a part in rugby going to places where it has traditionally vowed to never be seen.
Comments on RugbyPass
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1 Go to commentsThe Melbourne Rebels lineout is a complete disaster so not surprisingly a kiwi coach of the Wallabies hires the worst lineout coach in the country and a foreigner to boot. No surprises whatsoever here…….
3 Go to commentsThank your for wasting 2 minutes of my life Daniel. There is a useful message in there somewhere but your delivery sucks.
7 Go to commentsBen Smith, you are cry baby
214 Go to commentsSux that homophobia is still a thing though. I wonder how many players who could have become legends never kept playing rugby because they felt unwelcome.
7 Go to commentsCrazy he’s only 28, feel like he’s been around forever - don’t mind the move, safe pair of hands and creates depth in a thin position for ABs. Hopefully aides Kemara’s growth also without thrusting too much responsibility on him
1 Go to commentsMen should show strength and be mean, but they should be able to show emotion to those close yo them in certain times, birth of your child, death of family, proud moment. This article is stupid
7 Go to commentsWhat a weak article…absolute drivel and clickbait, well done. Will stick to rugby365 thanks
7 Go to commentsHonest, discipline, humility… Priceless.
2 Go to commentsSo many excuses. No mention of the SA number 2 being taken out illegally in the 2nd minute. That act of foul play had a massive impact on the SA game. Face it, NZ play pretty dirty very regularly, and it’s only since 2016 they’ve been held to higher officiating standards via stricter officiating and TMO reviews. They deserved to have a man down. Sorry. Fix the yellow and red cards and NZ will win more RWCs. Plus, there WAS a knock on invalidating the one try, so it was NOT a try. Period. Here’s a Kleenex…
214 Go to commentsOverheard conversation between NZ and SA rugby fans everywhere: We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! We’re the greatest! No we’re the greatest! Ireland are arrogant! True but they beat you! We’re the greatest! No! we’re the greatest! Etc. etc, etc.
33 Go to commentsTypical crap Aussie weather
11 Go to comments“If they’d have beaten England, I still feel we would have been talking ‘is this the best team ever,’ ‘is this the best team that’s ever played in the Six Nations'” he said. “I still think they’re not quite that good. I actually don’t think they’re that good.” So Trimble is saying he doesn’t think this is the best 6N team of all time. He is silent on if it is the best Irish team of all time. Can’t disagree with him. Just another misrepresentative clickbait headline from the guys at RP.
33 Go to commentsWow, do we really still have to listen to all the excuses and “unfairness” of it all. Even blaming the bounce of an egg shaped ball for the loss. But the article is about context, so what about the Springboks having to play the other 5 teams in the top 6 and still beating a comparatively rested AB team on a very empty tank.
214 Go to comments“Teams would generally have three coaches below their head honcho; attack coach, defence coach, forwards coach” do they? I’m not sure what the NZ set up is tbh, but the other 4 sides top 5 sides all have very different structures to the one outlined in the article! As well as attack, defence, and forwards coaches, SA, Ireland, and France also have specialist scrum coaches. England have a specialist scrum coach too, but arguably don’t have a forwards coach, with that role taken on by Borthwick. SA also have a backs coach in addition to defence and attack, and Ireland and England have fitness coaches, with England also having two skills coaches.
3 Go to commentsWorst article I've read in a while. Trying to disguise a backhand slap as a compliment. The whole article is a bit weird and negative. I think South African men are emotional in general… think Clad le Clos’s father 2012 London Olympics.
7 Go to commentsIreland are going to win the world cup.
33 Go to commentsIt was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
214 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
4 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
33 Go to comments