The speed and intensity of the game combined with the fact that no two incidents are ever the same makes it inevitable that judgement will at times appear random.
No one expects perfection but, five months out from a World Cup, there has to be more continuity and consistency than is currently being offered.
The biggest area of concern is players in the air. Arguably the biggest change in the game in the past five years is the way players compete for the ball off the ground.
The kick-and-chase era of 2009-10 forced teams to improve their techniques when jumping for high balls. Mindsets shifted. The high ball had been a defensive issue but, in 2010, offensive teams began to challenge aggressively in the air.
Kicking with the aim of retrieving has become an increasingly popular tactic. But the more it has been used, the more officialdom intervened, paranoid about players being dangerously taken out.
No coach would dispute the need for players to be protected but they would also argue the laws are clear without need for further scrutiny.
It is obvious when a player deliberately and illegally takes another out in the air.
The sanctions for that have to be heavy. But this year, referees have been asked to have a zero tolerance policy on any contact when feet are off the ground.
The outcomes have occasionally been patently silly. Players who have tried to pull out of the aerial contest have been yellow carded. Penalties have been given on the basis contact has been made without considering the intent or nature of the collision.
This has led to an alarming number of yellow cards in 2015. After six competition rounds, there were 35 - more than half the 69 shown in the entire 2013 season.
The risk of using an orchestrated and highly-skilled offensive kicking game is starting to outweigh the potential rewards, and coaches - fearful their players will be penalised for legitimately attempting to win possession - will shelve that option.
Some would say good - it will force more ball in hand. But that's probably not true. It's almost certainly not going to be true in the international game.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that All Blacks coach Steve Hansen lamented the lack of space available in test matches.
He fears his fellow coaches have become obsessed with rush defence and closing opponents down, to the extent that rugby has become dangerously turgid.
The dramatic end to the Six Nations where tries flowed should not be seen as evidence to refute Hansen's claims. There was a one-off need for England, Ireland and Wales to score points to win the championship and, with that incentive, games opened up.
Without it, at the World Cup, watch all three revert to a more conservative style. Teams under siege from fast-moving defensive walls have few options if they are uncertain about kicking because they can't compete for the ball any more.
The World Cup, especially in the knockout phase, could be an exercise in total risk avoidance - a case of teams desperately trying to play without the ball: aimless kicking or endless pick and go ... these could be the trusted options for most sides.
Without clarity or consistency in applying the laws, this is what has happened in the past. The kick-and-chase rugby favoured in 2009 and 2010 was borne from the same conditions - international coaches believed the tackled ball was being refereed in a way that gave all the rights and benefit of the doubt to the defending side.
The picture has been confused further by some of the rulings of the judiciary, most notably the decision to quash a red card shown to Francois Steyn for a tip tackle on Aaron Cruden.
While referees are penalising the lightest of non-intentional aerial contacts, what appeared to be a deliberate and obviously dangerous tackle was deemed legal.
Sanzar had no choice but to challenge their own judiciary's ruling - it absolutely sent the wrong message and was contrary to the basic intention of protecting players from life-threatening damage.
Players, coaches and supporters have every right to be apprehensive about how the game will be refereed at the World Cup. There has been little reason so far in Super Rugby to be confident teams will be able to play the way they want.
