Card issues double in Manawatu

The increased focus on protecting the head is believed to be the key reason yellow and red cards in Manawatu club and secondary schools rugby more than doubled in 2017.

Manawatu Rugby Union operations manager Martin Brady said in 2016 there were 104 yellow cards dished out along with 12 red in club and schools rugby.

With this year’s club season wrapped up and a couple of weeks of schools rugby remaining, there has been a drastic increase.

Referees have handed out 224 yellow cards and 31 red cards.

Eight further players were cited in club rugby, with six of the cases dismissed.

That saw 33 players suspended over the season.

Brady said there were a couple of factors for the increase in cards, but one played the most prominent role.

‘‘The decision from World Rugby to concentrate on the protection of the head has certainly brought it into attention,’’ he said.

‘‘I think referees have been more vigilant on it. The directive of what they have been told to look for has been quite clear cut now. If there has been direct contact with the head it is more likely to result in a red card and by the time it gets to a hearing, the result is an increased penalty.’’

But the union has also been putting more pressure on referees to get match reports filed.

‘‘As a union we have been more vigilant chasing up referees and making sure they get their paperwork in on time,’’ he said.

Players can be cited up to 48 hours after a match and after that they are free unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Video of all senior A matches being available online was another factor in the rise in citings.

‘‘Sometimes during the game you may see something that looks like foul play, but with no video [you are not sure]. With video you can go back and see if it is,’’ Brady said.

The additional red cards and citings have meant a heavy year for the judiciary, but Brady said it was at a level they could handle.

‘‘The increased work load has certainly put more strain on our judiciary. Our judicial panel have had quite a heavy workload.’’

But the major issue the union was concerned with was the referee abuse cases.

There were a total of seven referee abuse suspensions this season compared to just one last year.

Of those cases, two were deemed serious with William Fugle suspended for 60 weeks after dropping his shoulder into a referee and Ioane Meleah suspended 24 weeks for threatening words and actions towards a referee.

Jordan Trevelyan and Leighton Osgood both had shorter suspensions for verbal abuse of a referee.

There were also two schoolboys, who the union could not name, who were banned for verbal abuse.

And a player from an interarmy match will front the judiciary on Thursday after an incident last week.

‘‘What is disturbing of rugby in this region is the increased number of referee abuse numbers we are having. Referees like players are going to make mistakes, but that does not give people free licence to have a crack at them,’’ Brady said.

‘‘You just simply can’t abuse a referee and if you choose to go down that line then you will also be booking a trip to the judiciary. We will keep doing that until there is behavioural change.’’