I hope new batch of referees will not court the limelight

IT’S NOT often that I am in full agreement with Nick Cain, but his article on the All Blacks and Alain Rolland is very near the mark.

Refereeing is a thankless task, however consistency goes a long way to get fans on side. It’s called fair play.

To these eyes, throughout his refereeing career Rolland has targeted Scottish and Welsh rugby at both club an international level.

The number of close results in favour of the other teams speaks volumes and his current position within the refereeing community goes a long way to show how he achieved this goal.

His practices were introduced into the refereeing activities of George Clancey, John Lacey and Dudley Phillips, which has continued the demise of the Scottish and Welsh teams.

Last weekend saw a breath of fresh air from the Emerald Isles in two new referees, one of which was Andrew Brace. Let’s hope the two new referees have the strength of character to stay away from the ‘old school’.

In the meantime, the All Blacks will continue to manipulate certain referees for their own benefit.

Rolland, Clancey, Lacey and Phillips love the attention from Southern Hemisphere sides and I’m afraid that our Wayne Barnes is not very far behind.