Should International Referees Officiate 6 Nations Games?

by Dugald Skene

After a poor refereeing display during the England vs Wales game on Saturday, Kiwi born Steve Walsh has brought to light the question of whether referees from outwith the competing 6 Nations should be officiating the tournament fixtures.

It’s a tricky one.  On one hand, you are looking for a neutral minded referee who is there to run the game by the laws that govern it.  What difference does it make that they are from New Zealand, or South Africa, or Timbuktu?  On the other hand, it can be argued that only referees that earn their bread and butter in the English Premiership, RaboPro12 or the Top 14 and who know the game in the northern hemisphere are best qualified to referee these games.

In the case of Steve Walsh at the weekend, the southern hemisphere tendency to let a lot more go at the breakdown was clear.  There were infringements left, right and centre as players came in from all directions, used their hands whilst off their feet and prevented opposition teams competing for the ball (or ‘sealing off’ as they are calling it now).

Steve Walsh was a controversial figure on Saturday

It has to be frustrating for players who are used to playing to a certain standard at domestic level only to have to drum to a different beat at a higher level.

For the 2012 tournament, there are 10 appointed referees, broken down as follows:

• 2 Englishmen (Barnes & Pearson)
• 2 Irishmen (Rolland & Clancy)
• 2 Frenchmen (Garces & Poite)
• 1 Welshman (Owens)
• 1 South African (Joubert)
• 1 New Zealander (Pollock)
• 1 Australian (Walsh)

(For the full list and profiles, see the IRB website: http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/NewsMedia/MediaZone/02/06/10/88/120202refs.pdf)

There's a notable lack of Scots or Italians on the list, so I accept that numbers may dictate that others have to be included.  The question then is whether they should hold the central role or just be restricted to touch judge or TMO?

The vast majority of rules in rugby are very clear and therefore easy for the players to intrepret.  That makes the referees job easier but still very necessary.  On the whole, they get things right most of the time, but it is clear that there is a difference between the northern and southern hemisphere approaches.