Central Contracts for Referees?

[Neils]

World Rugby seriously considering central contracts for referees to combat consistency issues
Exclusive: The move comes in a bid to drive consistency across tournaments such as the Six Nations, the World Cup, and one-off Tests

By
Charlie Morgan,
 SENIOR RUGBY WRITER
19 July 2022 • 12:45pm
 JULY 16: Referee Wayne Barnes shows Andrew Porter of Ireland a yellow card during the International Test match between the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland at Sky Stadium  - World Rugby seriously considering central contracts for referees to combat tackle law chaos
World Rugby has been weighing up the introduction of a centrally-contracted group of referees to oversee international matches, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

The move, which is believed to be under serious consideration by the global governing body, comes in a bid to drive consistency in decision-making across high-profile tournaments such as the Six Nations and the World Cup, as well as one-off Tests.

Last weekend brought another high-tackle controversy as Andrew Porter, the Ireland prop, was issued a yellow card by Wayne Barnes for a challenge that left Brodie Retallick, the New Zealand lock, with a broken cheekbone. Porter was cited and faced a hearing on Tuesday but avoided a ban because it was found that the incident “did not meet the red card threshold due to the absorbing nature of the tackle”.

Currently, most professional referees around the world are employed by their respective unions. The pay of Premiership officials, for instance, is bank-rolled by the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby.

Those referees, including Barnes, work together to review their matches and fitness levels. They are appointed to international matches, usually after impressing in European fixtures, by World Rugby on the merit of consistent and assured performances in domestic competition.

Should they proceed with the idea of central contracts for international officials, World Rugby will be mindful of contract lengths they are able to award. It is most likely that they would have to work around World Cup cycles, so 2024 would appear to be a natural opportunity to introduce the initiative.

Such a move has been examined and debated internally over recent years and had been resurfacing prior to the July internationals.

The possibility of training camps for international referees and constant dialogue between them would surely bring alignment in contentious areas such as the scrum, the breakdown and the contact area.

There is the question of ensuring match sharpness for selected referees between Test match windows. Presumably, it would be straightforward to second them back to their home nation or even to foreign leagues.

Just last season, thanks to a collaboration between the Premiership and European Professional club Rugby (EPCR), Mathieu Raynal, the French referee, oversaw Harlequins’ visit to London Irish in order to familiarise himself with those players ahead of the knockout rounds of the Champions Cup.

Ahead of the 2019 World Cup, a team of 23, comprising 12 referees, seven assistant referees and four television match officials (TMOs) were picked to take charge of the 43 matches at the tournament.

Eddie Jones, 2020: 'Maybe World Rugby has to look at having a centralised group of referees'
Their selection was announced at the start of May, giving them a four-month lead-up to the World Cup that included warm-up Tests over that summer. Another advantage to having a coordinated group of international fixtures, in theory, would be greater clarity around new laws and directives.

Eddie Jones, the England head coach, has advocated such a move in the past. In December 2020, he told the BBC that a collective of Test referees would encourage a better spectacle.

“I think the great example is the World Cup,” Jones said. “We tend to get our best rugby at the World Cups, when referees are all on the same page and they’ve all got the same ideas on how to interpret various areas of the game.

“As we go forward, the game is getting more intense and the players, physically, are improving every year so the contest we have, physically, is increasingly more intense.

“Therefore, the application and the constancy of the law is just so important. And, maybe, in the future, World Rugby has to look towards having a centralised group of referees.”

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Wayne Barnes made the right call but they’re still using it as evidence of the need for centralised referees?  I don’t have a strong opinion but they need to come up with a better excuse.

As I see it, World Rugby tell member nations how they want the game refereed and they instruct their referees.  Perhaps they should identify why that process isn’t working first.

It’s a good idea to identify tournament officials in advance and work with them as. Group, but do they need to be centrally contracted?

I’m always suspicious of attempts to centralise anything, it usually revolves around politics and 2nd and higher order effects get ignored. In cricket it means that followers of the county game never get to see their stars. In Ireland the regions don’t get to see their stars, to the detriment of the game.

[westwaleswasp]

Ref gets decision right, system must be wrong!

I am going to go with my gut feel- it won't make a difference- these instances will still happen, inconsistencies will still be glaring. We need better  acclimatisation  and planning for refs, not necessarily central contracts.