During my international career, I was involved in two British and Irish Lions Series. In 2009, which was the first time that British and Irish referees were asked to referee Lions matches, and again in 2021 when the Lions returned to South Africa but without fans.
During my international career, I was involved in two British and Irish Lions Series. In 2009, which was the first time that British and Irish referees were asked to referee Lions matches, and again in 2021 when the Lions returned to South Africa but without fans.
Each of those tours brought new challenges to the match officials team – and the way in which we dealt with those challenges changed the direction of the game for the years that followed.
In the lead up to the 2009 tour, World Rugby introduced a new tackle interpretation which was, in short, as long as you got your hands on the ball first, you could keep them on it even if a ruck eventually formed over you. Heinrich Brüssow, the Free State Cheetahs flanker, utilised the law to his advantage to such a degree that he was propelled into the Boks team for the first Test and was a real nuisance in the Springboks’ victory.
Us referees worked through the new interpretations in classrooms, practised during school matches and discussed how we would translate all of the theory onto the pitches of South Africa. It might not sound that difficult, but it took some getting your head around and post the Lion Series, we lead the way in which the game would be refereed. It led to a more defence orientated game, with coaches regularly saying that having the ball was a liability.
The 2021 trip saw one of the most surreal incidents in rugby history. Rassie Erasmus’ online rant when he publicly reviewed the performance of the match officials of the first Lions test, not only earned him a two month ban from rugby, but it also changed the way in which referees and coaches interacted before and after Test matches.
The pre- and post-match discussions between a coach and a referee had more formality and guidelines put in place around them, and the 2021 Lions match officials set the standard for how those unique and fundamentally important meetings would work moving forward. Those guidelines remain in place today.
Since the final whistle in Sydney, I have wondered what lasting principles Ben O’Keeffe, Andrea Piardi and Nika Amashukeli, the three referees for the Lions series, will have set during their six-week stint in Australia and what that will mean for the game moving forward.
Not all head contact is foul play
I chuckled to myself watching the third Test. In the 13th minute, Tommy Freeman received the ball from Tom Curry only five metres out from the Wallabies tryline. Freeman tucked the ball under his arm and headed for the corner, running an aggressive arcing line hoping to level the scores.
As he did, he was smashed backwards by the aggressive Australian winger, Dylan Pietsch. Pietsch had cut in from his own wing, to make a fantastic tackle, one which knocked Freeman back towards the centre of the field. It also caused Freeman to drop towards the floor and as he did, Len Ikitau hit him in the head.
All week I had followed the Australian media regurgitating the law about how it was always illegal to make contact above the line of the shoulders – but Ikitau’s tackle wasn’t foul play. What else could he do? What else could Jac Morgan do the week before in his clear out? Sometime these things happen.
We want the game as safe as possible – that’s why World Rugby should be applauded for the investment they are making in the science and research around player welfare – but the game will have accidental collisions, and I hope the sensible officiating that we saw during the Lions series will continue.
Working out when TMO should get involved
I was delighted that Marius Jonker, one of the world’s most experienced match officials, didn’t get involved in the Freeman incident. I like that he trusted his own judgment and let the game continue. It was why I was surprised that he intervened when Nic White and Finn Russell collided in the 58th minute.
There was no appeal, and no injury to anyone, yet the game was stopped for 30-odd seconds so Amashukeli could rule upon whether White tackled the Lions fly-half without the ball. Amashukeli rightly ruled there was nothing to see. One for me to discuss with Marius over a beer I think.
At the end of the Invitational Australia and New Zealand match in Adelaide, Shannon Frizell was sin-binned following a clear out on Morgan. There was no appeal, no injury, and watching it live, I didn’t know what anyone had done wrong. Frizell was given a yellow card for a dangerous clean out which looked like hundreds of other cleans outs I’ve seen during my career, but the TMO thought it was right to get involved.
If no-one else notices an incident, a TMO shouldn’t go looking for it. A TMO should be there to just get the stuff that matters. When a player is taken off with an injury – a TMO should ask why? When a deliberate offence is replayed in the stadium – and everyone else can see it - a TMO should tell the referee what they’ve missed.
I know O’Keeffe was leading the way in ensuring that TMOs only came in when it was essential – and on the whole I thought this group of match officials got it about right – but I hope we continue to see less interventions by the TMO moving forward, which will mean less stoppages in our game.
Be careful what you say
After France vs South Africa in Marseille in November 2022, Springboks coach Erasmus started posting videos on social media of decisions he thought I’d got wrong. With the World Cup winning coach reviewing my decisions on social media others thought they were entitled to join in. The attitude seemed to be, ‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’ And because social media provides a cloak of anonymity, the criticism soon turned into ugly abuse of me – and my family.
Joe Schimdt announced that he was giving Carlo Tizzano a week off after what he described was a “tough week” for the Australian replacement who was accused of diving in the final moments of the second Test. “He’s had a really tough week Carlo,” Schmidt said. “He’s copped a lot of online abuse.”
I know that the match officials ‘copped a lot’ too – and a great deal of that will because of the post-match comments by the Aussie coach. When someone so respected in the game, in a position of such responsibility, comes out and criticises the referee – what do we expect will happen? Coaches and players have to realise their actions have consequences.
I was delighted that the CEO of World Rugby, Alan Gilpin, came out and said: “We’ve got to back our referees and our match officials’ and with the Women’s Rugby World Cup around the corner, World Rugby have said they will support the mental wellbeing of players and match officials by tackling online abuse and fostering a respectful and inclusive environment for all participants. Everyone has a role to play.”
Online abuse isn’t just a rugby issue, of course. But I don’t see why we can’t lead the way in tackling it by controlling what we can control as a sport.
Referees will never be perfect
As fans, we have to accept the game isn’t perfect. Players drop the ball at crucial moments. Remember the knock on by Tom Lynagh with the Aussies leading 23-5 in the crucial second Test and the resulting scrum that led to Tom Curry dancing over in the corner to stop the Aussie momentum. Remember some of the wrongly timed substitutions by the coaches we have seen over the past 12 months? And yes, the referees have made mistakes too.
But rather than marking a referee on how many mistakes they have made, look at some statistics that can show where a referee has added value to a game. How long did a video review take – nothing worse than watching endless replays. How long was the ball in play – nothing gets people reaching for the TV remote more than another stoppage in play. Get the referees thinking about adding to the momentum of a game, rather than attempting to get every decision right. If they get that right, it will help the game no-end.
I am looking forward to August 22 when the Red Roses take on the USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, not just to see the opening game of the Rugby World Cup, but to see what the 10 referees who have been selected will also have learnt from an eventful 2025 Lions Series.
Category: General Sports
