Why Do Rugby Referees Not Get Any Abuse From Players Or Spectators?

If we take football as an example, it seems almost impossible to have a match at

any level without players arguing with the referee at some stage during the game. How often do we see players surrounding the referee to press their case or screaming at linesmen who have made a call with which they disagree? And yet, seldom are any sanctions taken against these players.

This type of behaviour only serves to inflame supporters in the stands and leads to further abuse of the officials from the spectators. The consequences of players at elite level acting in this way are even further reaching. Younger players will only try to imitate their heroes and they too will begin to disrespect match officials and so the problem will perpetuate.

The same is true in games like tennis where we often see senior players abuse officials in fits of petulance or else smash their rackets in anger. We can only imagine the influence that this has on the players of the future.

In rugby, we do not see the same degree of abuse of match officials either from the players or the spectators. Given that rugby officials are just as prone to making incorrect calls as those in other sports, we can but ask why they are seemingly treated better.

The answer probably lays in the culture surrounding the game and the nature of the game itself. In its early days, rugby was played only members of the upper classes whose code of conduct would not have allowed arguments with officials or open dissent. Players were expected to behave like gentlemen and to show respect to officials and opponents alike.

In many ways, this attitude has been inherited by players of the game today. On field dissent is not tolerated and is usually immediately punished. In rugby league, it used to be that dissent would earn a player an early bath or shower and the same occasionally applied to the fifteen-man game. Nowadays, team captains are allowed to ask the reason for a decision but have to be careful not to press the point or else risk being penalised. If any other player makes an adverse comment, then it is likely that he will be penalised and give ten metres to the opposition.

With these instant penalties for shows of dissent on the field, players tend to try to control their tongues and actions. This almost certainly helps keep crowd reaction to a minimum and helps prevent crowd abuse of the referee. But referees do still suffer. In the 2011 Rugby World Cup competition, for example, New Zealand referee Lyndon Bray was roundly criticised and abused by South African fans for his handling of the game in which the Springboks lost to Australia; there were even suggestions that it might be unsafe for him to visit South Africa in the future. Thankfully this level of animosity towards referees is still uncommon in rugby.

But rugby is not immune to an increasingly aggressive world. In Britain, referees are treated reasonably well. However, in places like New Zealand and South Africa where rugby is a national passion, referees are coming in for increasing media criticism and there is a risk that spectators could take the cudgel to the ground. Hopefully, this will not be the case; as long as players show the way, then the fans will follow.

by: Keith Horwood

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