KEY POINTS:
It is a referee's nightmare. The constant chirping in his ear from halfbacks is an acceptable hazard of the job, but what about when the first-five actually knows the laws?
Saracens' Glen Jackson has completed his exams to qualify as a referee and wants to earn a living at it when his playing days are done.
Jackson said: "Because of all the studying, I am even tougher on the guys with the whistle than I was before.
"It's part of the gamesmanship and I have had to apologise once or twice over a beer after the game."
Saracens supporters revelling in the team's rise in the Premiership need not worry whether Jackson is about to jump ship to a world of red cards, tight shorts and questionable parentage. The 31-year-old has extended his playing contract to 2010; only after that does he plan to emulate Ireland's Alain Rolland as a rare crossover from the ranks of top players.
Jackson has joined the Hertfordshire Referees' Society and passed the papers to get himself insured, and his most recent match was at Berkhamsted School, where the boys gave him a friendly reception. He has yet to send anyone off.
"Haven't really had the opportunity," he says. "And I have definitely got to get out of the player mentality. Like when you see someone get punched and think: 'Well, you probably deserved that."
Although Jackson has been tutored by Premiership referee David Rose, he is disappointed not to have been contacted directly by the Rugby Football Union.
"I know the RFU want an ex-player to join them and I think they are concerned I want to go back and referee in New Zealand, but I don't. I want to go to World Cups and stuff, and I want to do it through the English RFU."
Such a commitment to the English scene would have been a surprise on the evidence of Jackson's initial displays for Saracens.
He goes as far as to admit that it was "the wrong decision" when he moved north in November 2004, with impeccable references from the Maori (for whom he won 13 caps), the Chiefs and, latterly, Bay of Plenty.
Thrust into an English midwinter with Saracens under their then head coach Steve Diamond playing a forward-dominated game, he struggled to show his best during a season in which the club used five No 10s.
Now Saracens have Alan Gaffney as their head coach and another Australian, Richard Graham, in charge of the backs.
"The way they want to play is right up my alley," said Jackson. "We've been keeping defences honest, attacking the line quite flat and scoring a few good tries.
"Everything comes through the fly-half, and if you're not comfortable with the game plan, it makes it pretty tough.
"I'm not having a crack at Steve Diamond; the difference was where I'd come from and I tried to carry it on here."
In turn, Jackson, as the cliche goes, has made the position his own. In the last two seasons he has started 57 of Saracens' 60 matches, and his seven tries in the current campaign are testament to a quality back-row and the ex-Springbok at scrum-half, Neil de Kock. "What Neil has brought is speed around the field; probably second to none among the scrum-halves I've played with. The rest of the backs know what we're doing; Kevin Sorrell, Andy Farrell and Adam Powell, all the midfield."
Rumour had it Jackson would have been the highest paid non-All Black in New Zealand had he stayed put, even if Bay of Plenty were traditionally unfashionable.
Their coach Vern Cotter fitted training in with his farm duties docking lambs' tails.
A possibly apocryphal story had Jackson untying a pack of dogs from behind the posts in Rotorua so he could practise his goal-kicking.
But he left with the gilded memory of scoring 23 points to help win the Ranfurly Shield away to mighty Auckland at Eden Park in August 2004.
It provoked scenes of never-before-seen celebration throughout the province. So the residents of Watford had better brace themselves.
Saracens, who have won nothing since the Tetley's Bitter Cup in 1998, host Bath in the semifinal of the European Challenge Cup next week and are an 11-1 outside bet to land the Premiership title.
They have won 12 and drawn two of 16 matches since December.
There could be a new first-five arriving next season - the club have been linked with Stephen Larkham in the past - but, all in all, Jackson is delighted he swapped Mount Maunganui for Betjemanesque Winchmore Hill in suburban north London.
"There's a good few pubs round here," he said when asked to name the attractions. "And my wife Fiona loves the shows in London."
The couple are expecting their first child soon - the would-be whistler's father-in-law, Stu Ellis, was a fly-half and referee too - and Jackson qualifies for England in October. "There'd be no question I would play if I got selected.
"It's pretty safe to say I'm too old with young guys like [Shane] Geraghty and [Toby] Flood around, but you never know."
- INDEPENDENT
