Rugby paying high cost for entertaining

A WEEK in which it has been hard to discern which is the bigger disappointment – a faltering England team or the RFU Council’s decision to potentially signal ahead the eventual split between “community” and “professional” rugby with its dithering over promotion/relegation – as a former referee I would choose an alternative.

Nigel Owens’ recent revelation that elite referees do not police scrum put ins or throwing into the lineout shocked me. There are other glaring examples where elite referees manage the entertainment content of a match rather than the application of its laws.

We have always assumed this to be the case but to have one of the world’s top referees admit as such is a damning indictment of where the game is headed. What kind of a role model does this set for those thinking of taking up the whistle?

I concede World Rugby and its predecessor managed to make the game more dangerous in their efforts to make it more entertaining… NOT safer. However to then appreciate that at the highest level referees do not apply all of the laws, however ridiculous, objectively and consistently is a bitter pill to swallow.

I am in no way pointing the finger at Nigel Owens, a great referee, but rather at all those in authority who have allowed/ directed those responsible for applying the laws in the game to ignore some (or the majority dependent on your viewpoint) of those very laws. It is nothing short of scandalous.

The sooner we have a root and branch reformation of the authorities the better because they are the people responsible for the disgraceful situation we find ourselves in. Then perhaps we can address the laws in what could be a major upheaval of their content and almost certainly a major re-education of our elite referees so they are quite clear in their responsibilities to manage and apply ALL the laws evenly.

“Pick ‘n’ Mix” they are not.