Wynne Gray: Unpredictable refereeing has to stop

What was more aggravating - the perplexing quality of the Super 14 or the enigmatic performances of the match officials?

There could be weekend celebrations as all five New Zealand sides won, with the Blues and Chiefs the most relieved after breaking their losing sequences.

Much of the rugby, though, was grim, a lot of it stuttering or incomprehensible.

Debates will fester about the blame. Was it the players' inadequacies, a coaching issue, the complexity of the laws or the referees' interpretations?

While the International Rugby Board wrestles with ideas about polishing the laws to come into effect after the 2007 World Cup, it might, in the interim, come up with a scheme to attract referees and standardise their rulings.

Otherwise the confusion for those playing and watching rugby will escalate. There were plenty of bewildering tangles as the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Brumbies kept their unbeaten records after the latest round.

Some officials concentrate on scrum engagements to excess while colleagues may not be as pedantic about scrum feeds or binding and let the players sort out their timing. Other referees are more vigilant at lineouts while some ignore inaccurate throws, the gaps, numbers and interference.

The tackled ball zone is a shambles for everyone; the hindmost foot line has more kinks than an evening with Lee Tamahori, "flat" passes abound, obstruction is more prevalent, while players are often taken out of play nowhere near the ball.

The laws are complicated and encourage the contradictions. Unfortunately, too many referees oblige. Let's delve into a few of the latest matches.

Referee Scott Young blew for a final move infringement against the Hurricanes on Friday night before being advised by touch judge Paul Honiss to play on.

Fortunately for the Hurricanes Isaia Toeava had placed the ball over the tryline rather than kicking it away in disgust when he heard the whistle.

Later, the judiciary swooped and Rodney So'oialo and Paul Tito were cited and suspended for a week for trampling. With the game now sanitised, the pair were pinged for what used to be called rucking.

Strangely, the judiciary found space in their judgment to criticise the television commentators who felt the incident was part of the game and did not merit a citing.

Will that same judiciary ask why Blues halfback Steve Devine was not cited for mountaineering work against the Reds, or were his actions accepted as part of the game?

What about Australian referee George Ayoub? He and his mates somehow allowed A.J. Venter to stay on the field when he had been substituted, briefly giving the Sharks 16 players on the paddock. Ayoub was overheard to say he would deal with the problem at the next stoppage.

Add in two legitimate Crusaders' tries that were disallowed and one given, in error, to the Sharks and the officials did not have a good day.

The Crusaders needed skipper and All Black captain-in-waiting Richie McCaw to create enough momentum for the narrow win.

Asking Jerome Fortuin to explain his scrum decisions in the turgid Blues win in Brisbane would take hours, while there were similar muddles across the continent in Perth as the Chiefs opened their series account.

Bewildering refereeing has been accentuated because of the uninspiring rugby. Sanzar administrators need to address the issues instead of waiting for the IRB.