The whistleblowers under the spotlight
Talks to two referees at the lower end of the game about the trials of taking charge of a match
IN TODAY’S digital age, referees are under more scrutiny than ever before. Rassie Erasmus’ Twitter attacks on officials have undermined rugby’s traditional notion of respecting referees’ decisions on and off the field. Graham Henry questioned the integrity of referee Wayne Barnes’ performance in New Zealand’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in 2007, leading to Barnes receiving death threats and being voted the third most hated man in New Zealand that year behind Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.
A spotlight is now placed on every contentious decision, and opinion on individual referees and the standard of officiating is increasingly polarised in professional rugby. However, away from the headlines, thousands of referees work tirelessly all year round upholding the integrity and fairness of amateur rugby across the country.
What drives these unsung heroes behind the whistle?
Level 7 referee Will Foster first picked up the whistle while still at school, and has been refereeing community rugby for almost a decade. Foster’s reflections on the demands of balancing officiating with personal commitments underscore the dedication required to excel.
He said: “I started refereeing club games at my local club Chelmsford and it was only when I got involved with the society aged 17 that I started doing school games.
“Most of the training that referees do normally is unofficial, although we have training meetings as a society, we have specific sessions for match officials, the first one I went to Luke Pearce came along and presented which was pretty good.
“The only official training I’ve had since is the England Rugby Advanced Match Official Development Programme which is a step on the pathway to getting into the National League Team and I did that last season. It was good, it was pretty intense and we had to go down to Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre for five days. It was very informative and very different to do one of those courses when you have experience as a referee.
“The Advanced Match Official Award-AMOA started probably six years ago and has really grown in the last few years. I was on the course with referees from Level 5-9, a range of ages, everyone was experienced and wanted to get better which was good.
“I think that there’s a lot of challenge in motivation, a lot of the time up until Level 5 you’re going to matches and operating by yourself, if you have a difficult day there is not someone there to help you, it’s different when you start travelling in teams or have a coach there.
“There’s a challenge in balancing it against your life as well, at Level 5 they want quite a lot from us, they expect us to be doing reviews of our games and sharing clips with people, that’s a big commitment if you’re busy with work. If you’re not progressing and getting the games you want it can be quite difficult to keep that motivation going.”
Foster shares his frustrations at the lack of transparency in the selection process for referees looking to progress at a high level.
He said: “I would like to go onto the National League Match Officials Team, you’re more of a team there, it’s a bit more supportive and you travel to games with assistant referees.
“There’s a bit of frustration in that you don’t know what people think about you, who is watching your games or how close you are to progressing. Getting from Level 5 to national league you get nominated by your regional team and then the RFU will accept you or not, I have an idea what the regional team think of me but no idea what the RFU think of me.”
Foster is the assistant secretary of the London Society of Referees, the largest society of rugby referees in the world. Foster explains that the association organises regional meet ups that include free pizza and drinks, socialising, presentations on refereeing and guests visits from elite referees.
He said: “London is a massive society, the biggest in the world to the extent it operates as an amalgamation of the regions, the regions put on a training session every month and someone will give a presentation on a topic and the resources are provided centrally.
“I’m on the management committee that oversees the society as a whole, being involved in that has been rewarding, trying to move it forwards, we also have central training meetings we tend to get in bigger name speakers to come and speak to us, they’re very good.”
For individuals like Level 7 referee Annabel Pigdon refereeing offered a unique pathway into the game despite limited playing experience.
She said: “I graduated university during Covid and once things started to open up I thought I’d try playing rugby. I never ended up playing a match because I got injured almost immediately with an unfortunate accident getting tackled. After that I thought I’d like to be involved in the game because I’d followed it my whole life so I tried refereeing.
“The London Society of Referees does this ‘Take Up the Whistle’ course over two evenings, I signed up and did that and I then contacted the society and said I’d like to referee a game.
“I was definitely thrown in at the deep end very quickly, the first game was a friendly club it was a men’s game but they only had two changing rooms and they were really small, there was no changing room for me so I had to get changed in the toilet. I brought the wrong kit so there was a colour clash with one of the teams, I really learnt a lot from the experience.”
Pigdon benefited from working closely with her referee coach Peter Wakefield, a relationship she believes has helped her development.
She said, “I progressed quickly, my first handful of games I got good feedback, on my fifth game Peter Wakefield came to watch me, he was really impressed with my performance and he still is my coach.
“Peter comes to quite a lot of my games, watches and gives me things to work on. It’s very much things to work on rather than critiquing my performances, he was an experienced ref so the insight he gives is invaluable.”
Pidgon outlines the challenges she faces, from dealing with player behaviour, to prioritising player safety and to adapting the laws, and she looks up to professional referee Sara Cox MBE as an inspiration.
She said: “I think sometimes being a woman can change how the male players interact with me, because it’s potentially a bad look if a 6ft 5in player screams in a woman’s face, so it does change their behaviour which presents some challenges.
“One of the key things to bear in mind when refereeing is player safety. If I ever suspect a head injury or collision I’ll try to stop the game so players can get the correct attention.
“There is more nuance to refereeing than just knowing the laws, the challenge is know how to apply them.
“There’s not many female referees across all sports, it’s great to have Sara Cox at the top end of refereeing to aspire to.”
“Away from the pro game, thousands of referees work hard all the year round”