KEY POINTS:
As players get stronger and faster, New Zealand's referees have vowed to keep pace - literally.
Referees have copped serious flak this season and some players and coaches have concerns about whether the officials are fit enough to keep up with play.
After the Blues lost in Wellington
last week, skipper Troy Flavell and coach David Nucifora thought the question of whether referees were fit enough was valid.
While the quality of rugby has been disappointing, the pace and intensity have gone up, making extreme demands on referees to get themselves in the right place to make decisions.
The increased speed, however, is an issue of which New Zealand referees are acutely aware. Since 2005, the speed and endurance of elite whistlers have regularly been assessed.
According to New Zealand Rugby Union referees manager, Keith Lawrence, all professional referees were tested on January 24 and considered fit enough.
"The IRB came up with a standardised fitness test in 2005," says Lawrence. "We have been using that test ourselves and it involves four disciplines - aerobic, sprinting, agility and anaerobic.
"There are five gradings available - very high, high, sound, low and unsatisfactory. We have made it a minimum requirement that our guys achieve sound in all disciplines, which they all did. Everyone achieved the minimum and some achieved higher."
To help referees keep pace, the NZRU appointed a conditioning coach, Matt Blair, to work with officials. Blair has also been commissioned to research how fit referees need to be to cope with the changing demands of the game and ascertain how the physical demands affect decision-making.
He started a two-year project last night that will provide raw data from which future fitness tests can be manufactured. Referees will wear data recorders that will tell Blair how much ground they covered in a game as well as acceleration patterns and heart rates.
The project is partly funded by the IRB who are aware that the changing nature of rugby has placed new demands on referees. Blair believes that the research will likely show that referees are now tested anaerobically as a consequence of the game being played in explosive bursts.
"This is an issue the IRB have been concerned with and why they are very interested in my research. I think the game is becoming more anaerobic. I will be discovering how much distance they cover in a game, their speed, body impact and exertion indices."
But while fitness is a critical component, Lawrence stresses that other factors have to be taken into consideration.
"It doesn't mean that you would be dropped if you failed to get the required minimum on a fitness test. Fitness is just one aspect. There are technical, tactical and mental skills that are also very important.
"We would put a referee on notice if he came up short on a fitness test and explain that his results needed to improve next time."
