A tribute to Brian Moore
Rugby referee Brian Moore was 79 when he died at Arohanui Hospice in Palmerston North on Wednesday evening, March 6.
I count myself lucky I was able to visit him that afternoon.
By all accounts Brian should never have reached such an age, given multiple medical procedures that span decades. But he was never one to give up.
He fought every setback stoically, shrugging his shoulders and saying: “What can you do about it?”
Brian was undoubtedly of a different era to modern referees. He was from a generation that was raised in the school of hard knocks, and he was always generous with his words of scathing wisdom about referees who did not know the Laws of the Game.
He learned the laws at a time in his career when referees had to not just know the law, but also cite the reference to pass their exams.
Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Referees Association (HKRRA) president Stu Taylforth says the key to getting the best value from Brian’s knowledge was to “ignore the delivery, but listen to the message”.
“Those referees who got to build a special rapport with Brian enjoyed the challenge of arguing law with him, and if you were very lucky, occasionally you could prove him wrong.”
I first got to know Brian not long after I returned to the Ka¯piti Coast from 10 years refereeing in Wellington. I thought I knew the Laws reasonably well; Brian didn’t think so and told me in no uncertain terms.
Of course I was taken aback, but I respected the judgment of a man I learned to respect, and ultimately we became friends. For a couple of years, Brian and I held workshops for referees who wanted to hone their knowledge on the Laws of the Game. He delighted in the sometimes obscure questions that got even him thinking about the answer: “What should a referee rule if ...?”
In one of the years Brian coached referees on law, Horowhenua-Kapiti attained the most passes of the top exam (level 2) of any of New Zealand’s 27 unions. It was a magnificent result for such a small union and a testament to his ability to coach and understand law.
His enthusiasm was a measure of his genuine love of the game. No doubt he passed some of that passion on to younger referees, and his influence on the game in the Horowhenua-Ka¯piti region during the past 40 years has been huge.
Brian had a stellar career himself. He had 27 provincial games as a HorowhenuaKa¯piti referee from 1981 to 1993, including several featuring some of the big guns of the time, such as Wellington, Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu¯.
In later years, Brian was a referee coach and held various positions on the New Zealand Rugby Union (as referee liaison), the former New Zealand Referees Association, the Horowhenua-Ka¯piti Referees Association and the local rugby union.
Brian’s wisdom, enthusiasm for the game – and his blunt assessments – will be missed by his referee colleagues and the wider rugby community.
The Horowhenua-Ka¯piti Referees Association offers its sincere condolences to Brian’s wife, Angela, to his son Glenn and daughter-in-law Brigette, daughter Karen and son-in-law Chris, and his beloved grandchildren Tony, Danielle, Joshua, Sophie, Jayden and Logan.
In lieu of flowers the family would appreciate donations to the Arohanui Hospice. His funeral took place on Wednesday, March 13.