English officials can top the lot - Grashoff

VETERAN Premiership match official David Grashoff reckons English referees are on the cusp of a golden era after no fewer than ten of the RFU’s top men were selected for Test duty in the autumn.

Experienced whistler Wayne Barnes headed the list by taking charge of France v New Zealand, but below that fast rising Matt Carley (Scotland v Georgia) and Luke Pearce (Samoa v Canada) also tasted the action.

Assistant referees JP Doyle and Craig Maxwell-Keys (Ireland v Australia), Greg Garner and Tom Foley (Wales v South Africa) and Ian Tempest (Romania v Uruguay) were in the mix, as were TMOs Rowan Kitt and Graham Hughes.

Grashoff, who marked his 400th game as a TMO, referee or touch judge in November, believes refs boss Tony Spreadbury deserves credit for bringing so many officials through.

He told TRP: “Tony’s doing an incredible job and when you think we lost so much experience when Dave Pearson, Martin Fox, Andrew Small, David Rose, Sean Davey all retired, the young lads have done brilliantly for us.

“It’s always hard to get to the top of refereeing in world rugby because the competition is so fierce, but guys like Carley, Maxwell-Keys and Pearce could go all the way because they’ve really stepped up and delivered.”

Welshman Grashoff started as a “gobby scrumhalf” at Penarth, but took up refereeing at 35, his first professional match being London Scottish v Wakefield in 1997.

His landmark 400th game passed without fuss and he believes TMOs, often the target of fans’ ire, are getting things down to an art.

Grashoff, 62, said: “Officiating has evolved hugely but we can always improve and maybe the day will come when we can articulate to the whole audience why we’re making decisions.

“That would help - if you look at cricket now, they have a review system which is set up perfectly and is really slick.”