Wynne Gray: Referees put power in kickers' boots

Luke McAlister. Photo / Greg Bowker

It was a bit spooky, an uneasy look into the future of the World Cup.

Referee Bryce Lawrence whistled a penalty to the Blues about 57m from the posts, Luke McAlister sauntered up and, with a slight breeze in his favour, banged the Gilbert between the sticks. Easy, no sweat, McAlister could have gone back another 10m and still succeeded. He tried later from 62m but scuffed the kick a bit and sent it under the bar.

Watching those episodes at Eden Park offered unpalatable thoughts about certain matches at the same venue in late October.

Morne Steyn, Jonny Wilkinson, Kurtley Beale, Johnny Sexton, Morgan Parra, Daniel Carter, all the men with power in their boots will be major players when the seventh global tournament works through its programme in September and October.

There will be episodes of running rugby in the pool matches where there are score blowouts as senior sides deal to those of inferior ability. But in the tough encounters, especially from the start of sudden-death in the quarter-finals, watch for the scoring squeeze and pragmatic footy to take over.

Get the agate and hoof it down the other end may become the catchcry. Why? Because the match officials - with six from the Northern Hemisphere and four from south of the equator - may provide mixed decisions on the rules.

And if they get some decent help from the touch-judges, unlike those who have been on blinkered Super 15 duty in recent weeks, there could be all sorts of crucial decisions.

A prop's hand on the ground at a scrum, a defender with half his foot in front of the offside line, someone (as Richie McCaw discovered against the Reds) pinged for a breakdown infraction he did not understand - are all scenarios which could decide quarters, semis or the final.

Sanzar referees manager Lyndon Bray has publicly admitted a drop in refereeing standards, so you can bet in private he was even more scathing.

Even from the safety of the stands - and certainly when you view games on television - passes thrown backwards seem to be in the minority. An awful lot are called flat; so was the world a while back.

There seems to be a leniency for lineout throws depending on where the hooker stands, and every now and then a ref calls a halfback for an incorrect scrum feed and lets the rest go. Breakdowns are deteriorating into advertisements for sides in possession ramping and sealing off the ball, players are often in front of teammates who have punted the ball downfield.

At the rate Super 15 is being refereed, the World Cup will be decided by someone slipping a bind and being penalised for having a steadying hand on the ground. At worst, that offence should be a freekick, but this year it is a penalty and an avenue to win the World Cup.