Rugby: Coaches fume at raw deal

Ali Williams had plenty to say to referee Jonathan White in Dunedin. Photo / Getty Images

Blunders by inexperienced referees and TMOs are bringing Super Rugby coaches and players to boiling point.

Whatever else happens in 2013, it may be remembered as the year tension between playing and coaching staff and referees reached unprecedented levels.

Faith, trust and respect for officials appears to be at an all-time low; the notion that referees are sacred may be entirely redundant by the end of the year, such is the speed at which ill-feeling is brewing.

The relationship between referees and coaches and players has never been cosy - an element of wariness is inevitable. Yet, even as the complexity and speed of the modern game has increased in recent seasons, the predominant feeling has been that referees have kept pace with developments; officials have been capable of ensuring the basic tenets of the game have been well enough policed to allow teams a platform to play.

But the past few months have heralded a change. There are now serious concerns among coaches and players that too many officials simply aren't up to it. Too many basic mistakes are being made each week and officiating has generally been disruptive rather than effective.

The introduction of the global TMO trial has been a factor in turning relations sour. Players and coaches feel that, on several occasions this season, TMOs (who have the ability to trawl through earlier phases of play) have found fault when there isn't any by over-analysing the footage. There is also a growing concern that too many referees are refraining from using their judgement, knowing they can pass responsibility to the TMO.

Perhaps of greater concern is that in Super Rugby at least, there is a lack of experienced, high quality referees with the composure and gravitas to take control. Craig Joubert and Chris Pollock stand alone as referees with the skills and temperaments to earn the respect of the players.

Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters doesn't support the theory of Super Rugby referees being out of their depth but he does reiterate that a conscious decision was made this year to include new, young faces on the elite refereeing panel: "We have had a lot of personnel change - we have a new group of referees with a view to the future as any team would. This was well flagged with the coaches at the start of the season and is part of our longer term strategy."

But neither players nor coaches are finding it easy to accept that this is a season of learning for many Super Rugby officials.

Long after the final whistle in Dunedin last week, Ali Williams was still fuming. He'd been locked in constant battle with referee Jonathan White during the game - frowning, remonstrating and damned near having a tantrum. Two decisions had particularly incensed the Blues captain: his side were penalised for putting the wrong number of players into the lineout - when they were throwing in.

Similar frustration was shown by Blues technical director Graham Henry a couple of weeks previously when he slated the officiating in the clash against the Crusaders. His comments - he said the TMO was blind and that prop Wyatt Crockett had got away with murder at the scrums - earned him a disciplinary hearing and he had to make a public apology.

Coach John Kirwan has held himself back, yet he made it clear in Dunedin that he too is struggling to understand the officials.

"We just need to keep quiet now, we can't talk about that any more," he said. "We are not getting the rub of the green with the referees ... some really interesting calls again tonight, especially at the lineout. But for us, we have to keep quiet and keep our discipline. You can't win football games when you are on the wrong side of the penalty count."

It's tempting to write this off as nothing more than a culture of whinging at the Blues, except complaints about officials have come from all corners this year. The Chiefs were outraged when they played the Rebels - two obviously bad TMO calls went against them. Coach Dave Rennie didn't hold back. He challenged the ability of some of the officials and branded the decisions ludicrous.

Mark Hammett at the Hurricanes has also been vocal - he made an official complaint about Steve Walsh following the match against the Reds in Brisbane. He said Walsh had a worse game than any of the players.

In what had to be the ultimate sign of where distress levels sit with the standard of refereeing, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer justified his decision to not pick Heinrich Brussow on the basis he feared the Cheetahs openside wouldn't get a fair crack from the predominantly Northern Hemisphere officials South Africa will encounter this June.

"It's nothing personal that I don't pick him," Meyer said. "I made contact with Heinrich and explained the whole situation to him. Quite a number of our tests are handled by Northern Hemisphere referees, so that's something important which I took into consideration."

It's not normal for so many respected and normally controlled and patient individuals to be so openly critical: that fact in itself alludes to there being validity in the claims of incompetence.

Peters has noted the consistency of the complaints and the calibre of the men making them: "I have considered that [unprecedented volume of refereeing complaints] but I think there are various stages of the season where there are pressure points," he says. "We don't have a problem with debate around the game - and we are in the midst of a global TMO trial so there are going to be some incidents that are well debated. Where we get concerned is when the comments and debate goes across the line into a code of conduct/misconduct hearing."

He'd best be braced for more misconduct hearings - things are so bad that more coaches are almost certainly going to cross that line in the coming months.