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Top ref blows the whistle on World Cup bleaters
5:00AM Monday July 30, 2007
By Peter Bills
World referee supremo Paddy O'Brien has made a furious assault on what he calls "bleating rugby coaches, players and officials", warning it has to stop.
O'Brien, the IRB's refereeing co-ordinator, gave notice of a crackdown at the World Cup on players questioning referees' decisions.
"This has crept back into the game," he said.
"Experienced players are taking on inexperienced referees and cashing in on their lack of experience. (And being encouraged to do so by your Kiwi buddy Paddy!)
"We're not going to accept this at the World Cup. Those players doing so will be penalised at once."
O'Brien says world rugby chiefs have been dismayed at the growing trend for coaches to use the media to undermine match officials and players.
The Springboks bitterly criticised All Blacks captain Richie McCaw for what they alleged were his illegal tactics.
Stand-in South African captain Johann Muller said: "If Richie McCaw was blond and wearing a green jersey like Schalk Burger or dark haired and wearing a gold shirt like Australia's George Smith, I honestly don't think he would finish one test because he is so consistently on the wrong side."
O'Brien said "Some of the comments I read in the build-up to the two test matches in New Zealand were absurd.
"The Australians were accused of not scrummaging, and individual players were accused of being cheats. We have had enough of this; it has got to stop.
"I am determined that the World Cup will be won by the best team on the paddock, not in newspaper columns and certainly not by a coach running to a newspaper, bleating.
"We are banning all meetings between coaches and referees [allowed last weekend before the Bledisloe Cup game at Eden Park] before World Cup games.
"No other sport allows coaches to go in and see referees, armed with laptops, statistics and photos, before a game. Rugby should not be the first; it is absurd.
"Referees must referee what they see in front of them on the field during a game, not have pre-conceived ideas through coaches trying to influence them 24 hours before a match even starts.
"We will be putting a huge emphasis on that point before the World Cup begins."
O'Brien said he was disturbed by the number of allegations being made about cheating.
"To take the two recent subjects of this trend, Richie McCaw is an outstanding No 7, probably the best the world has ever seen. All open sides contest at the breakdown. It doesn't mean McCaw is cheating.
"And as for the Australian front row, I don't accept they won't scrummage. All teams get some scrums wrong, it's part of the game. To suggest they're doing it deliberately is absurd. Such talk has got to stop."
O'Brien blames the trend on growing pressure on coaches, and the willingness of some reporters to pass on as gospel everything a coach says.
"I think some coaches believe they can use the media to get the upper hand," he said. "And some reporters have no credibility at all.
"But as I say, this World Cup should be won by the best team. I don't care which side that is but I do know that referees cannot afford to listen to public opinion and they can't afford to let myths grow. They have to deal with facts."
Good to see he is making a stand but he would have gained greater kudos by rebuking Paul Honiss for his irresponsible comments earlier this week.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Good to see he's making a stand and I think it wise to make public the intentions before taking action.Originally Posted by Burgs[I
Just happy to be here
No Burgs - he can't rebuke Paul Honiss for his comments.
That would be commenting on a referee - a forbiden and horrendous crime (in IRB eyes).
Yeah, shame isn't it.
He could have done it as a general caution without naming names though.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
I didn't even know the refs met with coaches!
Surely it's enough for the ref to have a quick chat with the captains, before kick-off, just to let them know anything he's particularly keen to focus on...?
Keeping the Faith ... right here in Perth!
Yes Em - they not only meet with coaches but Jake White has a tame one that acts in a "consultative" capactiy for the Boks.
And then you look at some stats and see - home teams always earn fewer penalties.
Seriously, its not new. When I coached the state Refs body sent refs out to each club at least 3 session per year to go over laws, interpretations, and changes for the season. Each team got to have a ref at training sessions to get it right.
My already high opinion of Paddy just got a little better, though he may have been a bit specific with his examples. I knew that the meetings took place but am surprised the referees accept being "coached" on who's getting away with what via lap-tops, stats and photos.
He's on the right track by attempting to ban these sessions completely. But there needs to be an easily accessible and fast acting alternative for coaches to have their concerns dealt with.
Yes Shasta, I think a lot of this is media beat up.
I don't think the idea is to 'coach' the ref, the point of teams using videos and photos would be to have the ref's explain what the infringment was and why "A" was a penalty and "B" was a short-arm - that sort of thing.
If you know what the refs mind process is you can (as a coach) develop drills to help overcome persistant problems. The process (when I were a lad) was the referees coaching the coaches.
Paddy's got some good points, and I hope the RWC gets consistent reffereeing
Yeah that sounds better - the input should definitely be from the refs to the teams, not the other way round!!!
Keeping the Faith ... right here in Perth!
http://www.rugbyrugby.com/tournament...1707140000.phpOriginally Posted by hopep
Miracles do happen![]()
Just happy to be here
Amazing!!!
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Brilliant!