Always a Wasp

Some fairly ugly sides to Rugby this weekend - from players and fans alike.

Farrell lost his head with a couple of Bath fans on Friday (don't think it was captured on TV) after I assume was given some sh*t for carrying on play after looking back at Orlando Bailey (who was no more than 10 metres away) out cold on the floor, motionless with medics around him.  He was unusually rattled on Friday. 

To his credit though, he came round after the game having pictures with Bath and Saracens fans and was very gracious with his time - Jamie George and Sam Underhill also made a big post-game effort to sign autographs and take photos.

A bunch of Bath fans on a Stag Do drunkenly asking Ben Spencer for a picture just as he was being called back to the changing rooms by Bath backroom staff so politely said he had to go, they called out to him that he was a 'sh*t c**t' and Spencer (rightly) told them in no uncertain terms they won't be welcome back anytime soon.

It was a very edgy Saracens team out there.  Surprised Itoje got away with a Yellow - the tackle looked ok from the stands not far from where we were sat, but Alfie tends not to go down very easily.  Replays showed why!

Shame Finn wasn't back for Bath, think he'd have made the difference.  Bath really struggled to get any width on the ball.  Lawrence looked lively the handful of times he got the ball, but it rarely made it's way out more than 1-2 short passes.  Think Finn would have put some more width on play and stretched Saracens a bit more.

Moving on though, looking forward to Charlie vs Jacob (hopfefully) on Saturday.  Should be a good game and looking forward to a few ex-Wasps players.  First time at Kingsholm for me as well.

So far on our little on-the-road-tour of watching rugby post-Wasps, Bath and Saints have to be our favourite venues.  Still trying to work out getting out to see Toulouse and Pau play.

Agreed. And although it won?t happen they shouldn?t be referred to as ?two time league winner? etc etc.

Better as Two time (as far as has been caught) long term cheats!

But should Dickson, a Quins Player before retirement, have been the referee for such a high profile match.

I have seen nothing to suggest that has ever been and issue for him, or any other ref. The job is a very difficult one to do, one that I do not envy. There are very few that make regular game changing misjudgments, but, hey, we are all human, and the rules say that the ref's decision is final. Unless they change their decision, which I have seen the better ones do. Indeed, THAT is probably the mark of an excellent ref, and when they do it with humour. The game moves incredibly fast, and it is all very well for thousands of spectators to watch, each with a slightly different view of the play, or the TV pundits with dozens of camera angles, slow motion replay and image zoom.

Running through their head is the question, is it important enough to stop the flow of the game? It is the same reason they 'coach' players. 'Leave it', 'Hands away', 'Stop' - you hear them all game. In an attempt to avoid infractions happening that would stop the game's flow. Nothing in the laws that says a ref cannot do this. Whether that tends to encourage an unwanted two way conversation is another issue. If the ref start talking to the players, they will tend to talk as well, so a talkative ref has the good sense to put up with this, to an extent.

Is Mr Dickson the best at this craft? I don't think he is, but he is getting wiser. Some bug (or used to) the heck out of me with lack of vision skills. Wayne Barnes with his 'I didn't see that,' or 'That didn't look high to me,' type of remarks. He used to miss some howlers, which tells me his eyes were pointing the wrong way, and he was in in the wrong place. A lack of game awareness, that many ex players would have. If you focus on where refs are in relation to the play and the ball, and what they are looking at, some are better than others. It has been most interesting to watch the Womens 6 Nations, and how much better at their craft the female referees seem to be at this.

Some referees simply don't have what it takes to be at the top level. I am sure we can think of a few that regularly 'get it wrong'. Karl Dickson is not in that group for me.

But should Dickson, a Quins Player before retirement, have been the referee for such a high profile match.